The Discovery of the Heart of the Shadow King
by FeatherSong1323
Summary: A new student from America...is she hiding a secret? Kyoya's intrest is piqued by something he doesn't know. But he may be in for more than he bargained for...is he falling for this puzzle of a girl? Set after the last episode of the anime. OCxKyoya, TamaxHaru. Everything after the epilogue is oneshots. (Update guys: Emma and the twins' story is up!)
1. Chapter 1

**Why hello there! Okay, I just couldn't resist...I should be working on my Teen Titans fic, but this has been in my head lately...^^" Sorry if this conflicts with the Manga plot, never read, hope to soon, just pretend it's an alternate universe or something;P Warning...character may be an EXTREMELY exaggerated version of yours truly...that is to say...she acts like me. That, and like her general features, are probably where it ends...let's just go with I WISH I were her. Oh, and in case you don't get this part (I wouldn't) pretend they're speaking Japanese this whole time. ANYWAY...heeeere we go!**

Ella Flynn wiped her brow as she left her first class of Ouran Academy. Transferring as a second year student from America had NOT been easy, but what was even harder was adjusting. However, she'd managed her first class (math, nonetheless, which was difficult for her in any language), so she figured she was getting along alright so far.

"Now," she thought to herself out loud "Which way is the room my conversation class is in…"

"Oh!" she heard a sugarcoated voice say from behind her. She turned to see two girls looking at her. "You're looking for the room Japanese Conversation for Transfer Students is in?"

Ella nodded.

"You're that honors girl from America, right?" asked the other girl. Ella nodded again, and the two girls looked at each other, though what the look meant she had no idea.

"It's down the hall and to the left." The first girl said, pointing and smiling.

Ella was about to thank her and be on her way when a cool, smooth voice sounded from behind her. "Really?" it said sarcastically. "I wasn't aware the Japanese conversation class had been moved to the Janitor's office." Ella turned yet again and saw a very tall, handsome boy. He had glasses shading a pair of dark, mysterious eyes, and an air of regal aloofness about him. He wore a small smirk as he ran his hand absentmindedly through his dark hair.

"Kyoya!" the first girl squeaked. "We, um—that is, I, umm…" both girls blushed guiltily as she tried to stutter out an apology.

The boy whom Ella understood to be named Kyoya held up a hand to stop her awkward reply. "No need, just be on your way, ladies. No sense in embarrassing yourselves any further."

With no further word, the two girls skittered away hurriedly, mumbling to each other with red faces.

"Uhh," Ella began, gathering herself. "Thanks. That was…awfully nice of you."

"Nice," he chuckled. "I suppose that is one way to look at it." He saw her confused look and laughed at himself. "I'll admit, that was a little bit of overkill. That first girl's father's company used to cooperate with my father's, so I always had to act cordially to her, though I never did really approve of her behavior. She's threatened by anybody she thinks might be more intelligent than she is, or who might take attention from her in any other manner. Therefore she tends to act, for lack of a better word, rather bitchily towards such people. Hence her behavior towards you, an honors student here on scholarship. (That's not something that happens often, you know.) However, her father's company just recently cut off ties to mine rather unexpectedly, so it's now almost expected of me to be cold and standoffish."

Ella was still trying to process this when he laughed again. "Your confused expression tells me your family members are not, in fact, part of the business world. Am I correct?"

"I…uhh…my dad's a technology…consultant? Is that the word? My Japanese is still a little limited…" at Kyoya's nod, she continued. "…My mom's a teacher…or…was…before we moved here…uhh…?" her whole sentence seemed like a question. Kyoya couldn't help but laugh at her innocence.

"No, then. If you don't mind my asking, what did end up moving you here all the way from the United States?"

Though she retained her confused expression, an undertone of nervousness seemed to appear in the blond girl's delicate, rosy-cheeked face. "It's…well…it's complicated." She said, scratching the back of her neck.

Kyoya's eyes narrowed the smallest bit at her cryptic response, but he decided to let it go for now. Then, for what seemed like the millionth time since he had met her, he laughed at himself. "I'm sorry, I haven't formally introduced myself." He held out his hand to her. "Kyoya Ootori. My father runs a series of hospitals throughout Japan."

Ella smiled as she shook his hand. "My name's Ella Flynn, I grew up in Philadelphia. Or…near it. In the suburbs."

Kyoya chuckled at her slightly stumbly introduction, though he was unsure why. "Well, it's been very nice meeting you, Miss Flynn. I don't, however, want to be the reason you're late to one of your first classes. Your conversation class is down the hall and to the right." He looked at his watch. "I'd take you myself, but my next class is in another building."

"Oh, that's okay, thank you!" Ella smiled, turning to go. "Maybe I'll see you around."

He smiled back, unusually warmly for him. "Goodbye for now." He said in perfect English, right before turning and walking away without a backwards glance.

Ella stood smiling for a moment before continuing in the direction he had pointed out to her. He was awfully intriguing, in a mysterious way. Kind of like a puzzle she wanted to figure out. And, she had to admit, he was quite charming. And handsome. She had a hard time brushing the encounter out of her mind for the first few minutes of her next class, but she eventually managed, telling herself if she wanted to have more like it she had to improve her conversation skills.

Kyoya, surprisingly, also had a hard time getting the encounter out of his head. The girl was on his mind the entire time he was making his way to his business calculus class, and for the first few minutes he was sitting there as well. What exactly had her cryptic response meant? The words themselves were innocent enough, but her body language had implied that she was hiding something. What did she have to hide from him, a man she had just met? And, to get to the crux of the matter, why WAS she here in the first place? He made it his business to know such things, and not only did it annoy him that he didn't, it fascinated him that it hadn't been easy to find out. He made up his mind that he was going to figure out this riddle called Ella Flynn.

Just then, as if on cue, a very bubbly Tamaki Suoh sat down in the seat next to him. "Good morning, Kyoya!" he chirped. "What's that faraway look I see in your eyes? You haven't fallen in love now, have you?" he waved a hand in front of his best friend's eyes to add to his sarcastic question.

Kyoya rolled his eyes at the blond boy, an enigma he'd figured out long ago. "As if. No, actually, I just met that new girl, the honors student from America, and she puzzled me a bit. When I asked her why her family moved here, she gave a sort of roundabout answer, and her mannerisms depicted slight nervousness. That makes me think she's hiding something, but what? And why?" his brow furrowed as he once again racked his brain for answers.

Tamaki just shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Her file didn't say anything about that. She's a commoner. An honors student. Like Haruhi!" at the thought of the girl who was the object of his affections Tamaki's face lit up, and Kyoya knew that Tamaki was a dead end, so he let him change the subject.

"You know, I gave up that dance at the fair for a reason. Have you made a move on her yet, "daddy dear"?" he sugarcoated his voice sarcastically as he said the nickname. Honestly, the tension between the two was beginning to frustrate even him.

Tamaki narrowed his eyes indignantly. "For your information, mommy dearest, I have a date with Haruhi tonight!" he realized his mistake a second later, and looked around anxiously. Thankfully, nobody had heard him. Although Haruhi had been wearing a dress at the dance that night, either nobody noticed, or they thought it was some kind of cross-dressing cosplay. Damage control hadn't even been necessary: Haruhi Fujioka was still known throughout the school as a boy, and her activities in the host club had been continuing. Tamaki lowered his voice as he continued. "I asked her during the fireworks, and she said yes!" Kyoya could practically see hearts materializing behind Tamaki's head. "It has to be a secret." He said in an exaggerated whisper. "I don't want those two shady twins to ruin anything…"

Before Kyoya could so much as roll his eyes at his friend's drama, or congratulate him on his uncharacteristic bravery in finally asking her out, the teacher began the class. Throughout, though he was mostly able to concentrate on the lesson, his thoughts kept drifting to Ella Flynn, and he had to refocus himself constantly. It was really quite annoying.

Finally, Ella thought to herself as the bell rang, letting her out of her conversation class. First day introductions had managed to be awkward. Confident as she was with herself, some of the students were not. She looked at her schedule, praying for an easier class. Her wish was granted with Advanced English. She chuckled to herself, realizing she could probably sleep through the class if she wanted to.

There was, she thought with an inward groan as she caught a glimpse at the design of the classroom, the issue of finding a seat. There were rows of two seats pushed together, a "partner" design. She, being new, of course, couldn't just sit next to a friend as the rest of the students seemed to be doing. Who did she know?

That question was answered as she walked completely into the room and saw the corner closest to the door, invisible until one was inside. There, regarding some notes on a clipboard and looking aloof as he had earlier, sat none other than Kyoya Ootori. Ella approached him with some fraction of her usual confidence. "Is this seat taken?"

Kyoya had been absentmindedly looking through the most recent income records for the Host Club when he heard her voice, high and sweet and a little unsure. He looked up and sure enough, there was little miss Ella Flynn, asking for permission to sit next to him. He smiled at her genuinely. "No, not at all. Would you like to sit with me?"

Ella's heart gave a little jump. Did he just ask her to sit with him?

Oh god. Did she have a crush on him? She appraised herself quickly. No, she decided, no, he was just cute. Really cute. Hot. And she was excited to have made a friend. She nodded, a little too excitedly perhaps, and sat down. "Thanks, Kyoya." Then she remembered something from her last class and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry," she began. "I'm supposed to call you Ootori, right? I mean…Kyoya is too informal after only knowing you for a few hours…"

Kyoya chuckled a bit to himelf. "Well," he said, as if joking with himelf. "This IS an English class, so I suppose you calling me Kyoya would be appropriate.

"Oh." She said uneasily.

He laughed at her seriousness. "For the record, you can call me Kyoya anytime you want…so long as I can call you Ella."

Her face lit up at that. "Oh, yeah sure, no problem!"

He chuckled yet again, realizing this was probably the most he'd laughed in a day since he first met Tamaki, and that was not nearly the same kind of laughter.

She caught a glimpse at his papers. "So, what are those, Kyoya?" she giggled a bit at saying his name.

He couldn't help but smile at her childish giddiness. She was almost like a female Tamaki. Just less annoying. "Just some finance records for a club I'm in. It's called the Host Club…" he was about to extend her an invitation, as a good financier should, but something stopped him. He wasn't exactly sure what. He was trying to find a good way to end that sentence when, thankfully, their teacher stepped in front of the class and started talking, saying something about how they could only speak in English in this class, so on and so forth…Kyoya had stopped listening as he began studying his new friend Ella more closely.

She was, truly, a very attractive young woman. A little on the small side: she was a little shorter than Haruhi, although definitely curvier. Still, she had a delicateness about her. Her hands and ears were small, and her cheekbones and jawline just prominent enough to make her look like a porcelain doll. Her skin fit that look as well: It was a near-white cream color, her cheeks constantly a slight shade of pink. Her full yet small lips matched that pink, pursed in light concentration as she listened to the teacher's speech. Her eyes were large and blue, framed by long eyelashes that fluttered when she blinked. Her blond hair cascaded down her back in waves, and as the sun shone on it through the window he noticed it had hints of red in it…

"Ootori Kyoya?"

He snapped out of his trance as the teacher called his name in attendance, and he raised his hand in acknowledgement as the teacher moved on.

His eyes widened in surprise at himself as he realized how deeply he'd been observing her. Why, it was a good thing she hadn't looked over, because he'd had no control over his facial expression and god knows what she would have seen. Why was he so deeply and shallowly—and unwillingy—focused on this girl's appearance?

"Kyoya?" he heard her say. He looked at her again, braced should he be knocked into a trance again.

"Yes?" he frowned inwardly at the sound of his own voice. Shaky.

"The teacher just said we should spend fifteen minutes conversing with our partner in English, getting to know them."

It hadn't even registered with him until that moment that she had been speaking English. Something had to be done about this. "Excuse me," he said, half apologetically, half dazedly as he got up from his desk and grabbed the lavatory pass, making his way out the door.

He walked briskly down the hall to the bathroom, needing desperately to regain his cool. In the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror, his hands bracing on either side of the sink. His eyes were a bit widened, his brow a bit sweaty. He took off his glasses and splashed cold water on his face. He put them back on. Better. His heartbeat was slowing down, he was beginning to feel normal again. Looking at himself in the mirror, he laughed freely. He didn't know what that just was, but he brushed it off as the extra cup of coffee he'd drank this morning. He fixed his hair, which had gotten a little askew at some point, and fixed his tie for good measure, and proceeded back to the classroom.

Ella sat there with her chin on her hand. "_He's a little odd, isn't he?_" she thought to herself. What was making him act so…mysteriously? He was a puzzle, alright…

"Please excuse me, that was awfully rude." She heard his buttery, cool voice sound as he sat down next to her.

"Are you alright?" she regarded him. He looked as cool and collected as he had earlier, when she first met him. A puzzle.

"Just fine, thank you. What were we doing?"

She looked at the paper in front of her. "We're supposed to ask each other these questions, except in English…"

"Well, then let's get started."

"Okay." She replied with an earnest smile. "What's your favorite color?"

For what was definitely the millionth time that day, he chuckled.

**This was an awkward place to stop...but I have school tomorrow:( I didn't even get to the good part...I'll update soon. I hope. I dunno. Junior year of high school is awful. And I'm convinced my precalc teacher wants to kill me with the weight of my homework. Til next time!**

**~FeatherSong**


	2. Chapter 2

**Cutting it to the wire yet again, I apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors, I didn't have time to check!:( This chapter ended up being quite a bit of fluff, so if you're not into that I sowwy:( (Honestly, I was shocked that this story ended up having a plot in the first place.) This is mostly Kyoya, not much Ella. Oh! And if any of my fellow choir geeks get the refrence I make in here, lemme know! I think that's all...heeeeere we go again!**

Kyoya, clipboard in hand, walked down the hall towards the old Music Room 3 after school, actually relieved to be going to the host club after the day he'd had. All day, he'd had trouble focusing, trying to get Ella out of his head. What was it about her?

He shook his head in frustration as he rounded the corner and saw the slightly ajar door he was headed for. He was doing it again.

"_No matter."_ He thought to himself. "_I'm sure whatever's going on in here will be sufficient distraction…"_

He was quite right. The sight that greeted him when he pushed back the door was one of mild chaos. Honey was running around giggling, flying Usa-chan high in the air, with Mori chasing him calling: "Wait, Mitskuni. I haven't finished tying your shoe yet." The twins seemed to be tormenting Tamaki in the corner, and judging by the shade of red his face was turning, it had something to do with Haruhi. Once again, the two were impossible to tell apart, as Hikaru's arm was no longer in a sling.

"I WON'T HAVE YOU SPEAKING THAT WAY ABOUT MY HARUHI!" Tamaki suddenly screamed. Kyoya chuckled to himself at his friend's antics and listened in to the conversation.

"YOUR Haruhi?" asked one of them cooly.

"Since when is she your property?" asked the other.

"Wouldn't she have to be your girlfriend for you to even come close to calling her YOUR Haruhi?" they asked together.

Tamaki sputtered for a moment, pink faced, obviously not knowing how to reply. Only Kyoya knew what he really wanted to say. The twins simply assumed they had won.

"That's what we thought." They said. They then noticed Kyoya. "Oh hey Kyoya," one began, picking up a folder and handing it to the other, who continued: "Our mom just came out with these designs, and we thought they'd make some really good cosplay. Take a look."

Kyoya accepted the folder as the first twin picked up talking. "Kinda reminds me of the time Renege had us shoot that video that put you as the top." He snickered derisively

The other twin (whom Kyoya now understood to be Kaouru) scoffed indignantly as Kyoya opened the folder. "I could play top…" Kyoya stopped listening upon viewing the contents of the folder. Sketches of sports uniforms: Soccer, basketball, hockey, a referee, baseball, and American football…

Suddenly he heard the background noise cease, and looked up to find the twins staring at him. He raised an eyebrow at them quizzically.

"Uhh…Kyoya…" Hikaru began.

"Are you alright?" finished Kaouru.

"He kind of looks constipated…" said the other.

A very dark and annoyed look crossed Kyoya's face. "No." he replied shortly.

The twins intelligently took this as their cue to scurry off, and as soon as they did Kyoya mentally smacked himself in the head. Now just the thought of the country she came from set him off? He needed to get whatever this was under control. He pulled out his clipboard and ran through the possible effects of the cost of another cosplay day on the budget, simply to give him something to do. He was trying to remember how many they'd already had this month when Haruhi entered.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." She said, adjusting her tie. "I was studying in the library for a test, I guess I lost track of time."

Immediately the twins rushed over and put their arms around her. "Aww, that's okay Haruhi!" chirped Hikaru.

"We forgive you!" followed Kaoru!

Tamaki rushed over to the group. "Well aren't you the cutest?!" he threw his arms out in what Kyoya could tell would be a hug that knocked away "those shady twins," but at the last moment a pained look crossed his face and he patted her on the head instead. This confused all others present.

"Uhh, Senpai," Haruhi said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Just fine, just fine!" he laughed nervously and retreated to a corner.

Their confused expressions remained for a moment, but then the twins shrugged and walked away, and Haruhi simply rolled her eyes. A few seconds later Honey ran up to her.

"Haru-chan, Haru-chan!" he cried, his eyes appearing to tear up. "I tripped over my shoelace and Usa-chan flew out of my hand…and I don't know where he went!" he threw himself in to the girl's arms, sniffling.

"Why were you running around with your shoes untied anyway?" she asked patiently.

He sat up and wiped his eyes. "I guess I never let Takashi finish tying them…"

"Mitskuni." The tall, mostly silent man's voice made him turn around. There Mori stood, holding out the beloved stuffed bunny. "He landed in the fruit basket."

"Yaaaay!" cried the little boy of a third-year, jumping from Haruhi's lap to throw his arms around his cousin's neck and grab the doll. "Thank you Takashi!"

He set the boy down. "You're welcome. Now let me finish tying your shoe." And with that he knelt and began tying it.

Kyoya balked a bit at the fact that the guests had not been present for that, they would have enjoyed it. This prompted him to check his watch. Seeing the time, he clapped his hands for attention. "Alright everyone, the guests should be arriving soon. Get into position."

And with no further ado, the hosts all took their formation around Tamaki's chair. As the doors open, right on cue, they all uttered their famailiar "Welcome!"

_Meanwhile…_

Ella had stayed behind in her music room after the final bell rang, talking with two other girls she had taken a liking to in that class. They were discussing the works of Eric Whitacre and his use of dissonance when suddenly one of them, a girl named Terri, the daughter of a British ambassador, looked at her watch.

"Oh, Mizu!" she exclaimed, grabbing her friend (a rather talented violinist) by the arm. "We're late, we were going to go to the Host Club today, remember?"

Mizune gasped. "Oh no, you're right! What time is it?"

"Already ten minutes past opening!"

"Oh no, I hope they haven't all been crowded already…"

Ella was definitely curious. She flashed back to one of the things Kyoya had said earlier… _"Just some finance records for a club I'm in. It's called the Host Club…"_

"What's the Host Club?" she asked.

Mizune looked at her quizzically. "You mean you don't know what a host club is?"

Ella shook her head, feeling sheepish.

Terri grinned. "Oh, you'll love it, come with us!"

She hesitated a moment. After talking to him for all of English, Ella was pretty sure she was developing a crush on Kyoya Ootori. On one hand, she wanted another chance to talk to him, but on the other, she didn't really know if letting herself fall so fast was a good idea.

"It's one of the biggest things here at Ouran." Mizune said, trying to convince her. "You should at the very least go once for the experience."

Ella smiled and shrugged. "Well, when you put it that way. Alright."

"Great!" Terri said happily. "Now let's get going, before all the good seats are gone."

_Back in Music Room 3_

Kyoya had finished seating all of the guests with their requested hosts, and was looking over the projected budget for next month, sipping tea, when a shadow crossed over his paper. He looked up to see Haruhi with a peculiar expression on her face. "Is there a problem, Haruhi?" he asked. "I hope you're not neglecting your customers, your quota is still quite high…"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, whatever, Kyoya-senpai. I'll probably end up staying past my quota anyway. Don't worry, I told them I'd be right back. I just was wondering if you knew why Tamaki is acting so strangely today."

"I believe it has something to do with your date tonight." He said, pushing back his glasses.

Haruhi turned a little pink. "Oh…he…told you about that?" she scratched the back of her neck.

He chuckled a bit darkly. "Of course he did. After all, I am his best friend."

"Right…" she replied, a bit uneasily. "But…why would he be acting DISTANT if we have a date?"

"He mentioned something about not wanting "those shady twins" to find out. It would seem that he is trying to show as little affection towards you as possible so not to pique their suspicions.

She looked mildly annoyed. "Oh. Great."

"Out of idle curiosity, Haruhi, do you plan to make things official with Tamaki? I'd like to warn you that if you do you'll have to keep it private, so that the guests don't get wind of anything."

She blushed a bit. "I don't think you'd have to worry about that…from me anyway…uhh, I don't know, Senpai. I do really like him…if he were to ask, I guess I'd really like to be his girlfriend." She smiled at the end as she came to that conclusion, then her expression darkened a bit. "Even if it does have to be a secret…"

"Very well." Kyoya said with a smile. "Go ahead and get back to your guests, now Haruhi. We wouldn't want them getting anxious."

"Alright. Thanks, Senpai." She said with a smile as she turned and left.

Kyoya turned back to his work and smiled. He was, despite his cool shell, happy for his friends on the inside. It was about time they got together already…

He tried opening up that cosplay folder the twins had given him, hoping to figure out who would wear what so he could figure what sizes to order. Obviously, Tamaki would play the football player, as it was his understanding that the American cliché was that the football star was the classic heartthrob…he wondered with a small smile if Ella could validate that cliché…he wondered if she would know from experience…or perhaps from a friend, from what he'd learned from her today she was usually the middle man or the one to smooth things over among her friends back home, always giving advice…why did she leave?

He snapped back to himself with frustration, realizing he was doing it yet again. His brow furrowed, and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Kyoya." He looked up again to see a slightly worried Tamaki.

Kyoya regarded his friend tiredly. "You know," he said. "The guests tend to pay less when their hosts aren't sitting with them…"

Tamaki ignored him. "Why was Haruhi over here just now?"

"She was wondering why you were acting even more strangely than usual. I told her you were paranoid."

"Kyoya!" Tamaki looked positively panicked. "How could you-"

"Calm down, idiot." He laughed, cutting off his overdramatic friend. "I put it more delicately than that. I told her you didn't want the twins to find out."

"Oh." Tamaki sighed his relief, then sat down across from him. "I'm really nervous about tonight…I just don't know what she wants!"

"Well, if you don't want to run the risk of those "shady" twins stealing her away, I'd ask her to be your girlfriend." He said absentmindedly, making some markings on his papers.

Tamaki's eyes widened. "You really think so? I don't know…maybe it's too soon…I don't think she'd want me to, so soon."

Kyoya looked up at him, annoyed. "You really are an idiot. She's ready, trust me. Just ask her."

Tamaki grinned. "Oh, thank you Kyoya! You're a great friend!"

"Just make sure you don't make it obvious in public. It would be quite a scandal if you two were seen canoodling by other students."

"Oh, right…" he looked slightly disappointed, but quickly shrugged it off. He then seemed to have another thought cross his mind, and looked up to address Kyoya again. "Why did you look like you were going to tear your hair out before? I hope we didn't go THAT far over budget."

Kyoya gave a halfhearted chuckle and shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's this Ella girl. I can't stop thinking about her, wondering where she came from. I've realized I've been acting slightly incongruent since I first met her. I explain myself where it's not necessary, I laugh more, I notice strange things about her, little things that don't really matter. I find myself unclear about my motivations around her, which is, needless to say, out of character for me. She keeps popping up in my head no matter what I do. If I don't figure her out soon, I may actually resort to pulling my hair out."

Tamaki's eyes were wide for a second, then he laughed outright. "I don't think figuring her out is your problem, Kyoya!"

"What do you mean?"

"You really don't see it?"

Kyoya was getting annoyed. "See what, Tamaki? I don't feel like playing twenty questions."

Tamaki was still laughing to himself. "Forget it. You'll have to figure this out on your own."

He was about to protest when he caught sight of some latecoming guests entering. "Get back to your customers." He said, rolling his eyes. "We don't have time for games, we have customers."

Tamaki giggled as he got up to leave. "Whatever you say, mommy dear."

Kyoya rolled his eyes one last time, then put on his most charming face as he approached the newcomers. "Welcome." He said with a smile. He then fell into his usual routine of regarding guests one at a time. He'd figured out within the first month of the club that this made the girls more happy, as it made them feel more personally handled. The first guest was Teresa Baker, whose most usual host choice was Tamaki, but who also occasionally chose the twins. "Miss Baker, what can we do for you today?" he clicked his pen and poised it above his paper.

She smiled at him genially. "I'll have Tamaki today, if you please."

Kyoya smiled and nodded, adding a tally mark next to her name. "Very well, if you'll step over there. I believe you're in luck, it appears Mr. Suoh has one seat left at his tea table today.

"Thank you." She said, nodding and stepping on, revealing the next guest.

Mizune Saitoh frequented Tamaki as well, but usually only when he was playing or on the couch. She also occasionally visited with Honey and Mori. "Miss Saitoh, who would you prefer to sit with today?" he once again poised his pen above his clipboard.

"I'd like to request Honey today, please." She replied a bit quietly.

"Of course, He and Mori are right over on the couch." He made a tally next to her name as she walked away. He then turned to face his next customer.

"And what may we do for you today, Miss…" his eyes widened and he stopped cold when he saw who he was speaking to. He felt like he was choking on his own heart, like it had jumped into his throat. "Ella!" he said in surprise. His voice was half an octave higher than usual. "What…" he stopped himself before he was mildly rude, but she knew what he was going to ask, apparently.

"My new friends from music class pulled me along. Mizune said it was a big thing here, so I figured I'd see what it was about. They explained it to me on the way, sort of." She looked a little confused.

"Well, what you do is request a club member to sit with. Who would you like?" he didn't know how he managed to get the sentence out, because he was busy choking the question himself. For some reason he balked at picturing her sitting with any of the other hosts. Why did he feel…nervous? Was this what nervous felt like?

"Ummmm…" she seemed a little nervous herself. "Are…you an option, Kyoya? I mean…you're a member, right?"

He felt his face turn hot, and simultaneously he realized that he never received requests. Most of the girls, he supposed, had always found him intimidating. Which usually suited him just fine. But he was glad she didn't think so. He looked at her and realized he did have to give her an answer. "Um, yes. I suppose I am. Would you like to…sit with me?"

She smiled sweetly. "I would." Then she giggled. "Funny, that's the second time you've asked me that today."

He laughed as well. "So it is." He offered her his arm, feeling a little shaky on the inside, but thankfully able to keep her his outward cool. "Shall we?" he asked in English.

She giggled and took it. "Let's."

When she hooked her arm with his he felt a tingly sensation rush through him, and he felt his face redden and his heartbeat speed up. What was it about her? What had Tamaki meant earlier?

He rolled his eyes inwardly. _"Oh great. Another mystery."_ He thought. "_Thanks, Tamaki."_

**I love you all please keep reviewing and favoriting and following it makes me so happy! I'd like to say more but it's bedtime! I don't know the next time I can post, it's winter concert season, but I'll try my bestest to make it soon!**

**~FeatherSong**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, I didn't even expect to be done this today. But I did it! This chapter is mostly the other Hosts' viewpoints, and Kyoya's. Actually no Ella pov here. Uhhh...I think that's all. Heeeere we go!**

Honey was happily eating his cake, half listening to a conversation two of the girls were having, when he noticed something unusual. His eyes widened slightly, and he blinked a few times to make sure he was really seeing what he was seeing. Then he stood knelt up on the couch so he could whisper his finding.

"Takashi!" he said urgently into his cousin's ear. "Look over there! Who's that girl sitting with Kyoya?"

"Hmm?" Mori mumbled, looking over discreetly. Indeed, he was surprised to see, there was a girl sitting with Kyoya, at the table where he usually sat alone. In response to Honey's question, he shrugged.

"Oh." Honey paused and regarded them again. "She's pretty." He whispered. Mori looked again and nodded his agreement.

"What are you guys whispering about over there?" one of the girls asked amicably.

"Oh, nothin." Honey replied, not missing a beat. "Just how pretty all of you ladies are." This answer was met with a chorus of "Awwww!" from the six girls present.

Just then, Haruhi approached with the tea tray. "Anybody need refills?" she asked happily. While she was refilling a few of the girls cups, Honey got up and ran to a corner. When she had finished, he called her in a very loud whisper.

"Haru-chan!"

She looked at him quizzically. He motioned urgently for her to come over. She looked sheepishly at the guests as she set down the tea tray. "Excuse me."

She approached the small boy, who looked up at her with wide eyes. "What is it?"

He shook his head and motioned for her to come closer. She sighed and knelt down next to him. "What, Honey-senpai?"

"Don't you think," he whispered in her ear. "That Kyoya wants some tea?"

Haruhi was confused. "Not really. He already has some, and he'll just usually go get it himself when I'm done serving."

Honey shook his head. "He can't get up, silly, he has company! Hey, maybe his new friend wants some tea too?"

"New friend…?" Haruhi asked cautiously, turning around. "Oh!" she exclaimed in a whisper. Kyoya was sitting at his usual table, but for once, a girl sat across from him. She was talking animatedly, her smile lighting up her face, her hands doing some of the talking as well, and Kyoya was watching her intently. At first glance, his face appeared to hold its usual calm demeanor, but when she looked closer, she noticed the slightly pink color to his cheeks. "_Is he BLUSHING?"_ she asked herself.

"What are we whispering about?" the two voices suddenly coming from behind her made her jump.

"Could you guys please not do that…" she pleaded, her voice shaking.

"Kyoya's sitting with a pretty girl!" Honey answered, his voice still hushed. The twins, wearing identically confused expressions, turned their heads slowly, looked for a second, then turned back to each other quickly, their expressions changed to shock.

"Kyoya never takes guests one-on-one!" Kaouru said, surprise coloring his voice.

"Yeah," agreed Hikaru. "At most he would have a small group of girls stand around him as he worked, and maybe they'd occasionally ask a question or two."

"This is unprecedented, look, he actually looks interested in what she's saying!" Kyoya observed.

They all looked over again to confirm this statement. After a prolonged moment, the twins looked at each other and grinned.

"Maybe we should…"

They had started to get up, but Haruhi pulled them back down. "No, you shouldn't." she scolded. "Let's leave them alone, we all have guests to get back to, and I have tea to finish serving." Seeing the twins' disappointed faces, she added reluctantly: "You guys can torment him all you want later." The three nodded, and a second later, they were gone, back to their guests.

Haruhi shot another sidelong glance at Kyoya and his "friend" as she picked the tea tray back up. From her angle, she could only see the girl's back, but she saw Kyoya pretty well. He was sitting up in his seat, looking intently at her, and he kept fidgeting with his hands, as if he didn't know what to do with them. They were folded in his lap, then under his chin, then folded on the table, then back in his lap…

She decided to ask Tamaki what this was about. He probably knew. She remembered Kyoya's mildly sarcastic but still truthful comment: "_After all, I am his best friend."_ She approached his overly crowded table with her tray. "Hello ladies." She said, trying her best to be sweet and charming.

She was greeted with an approving chorus of "Hey Haruhi!"

She smiled happily at the welcome. "Would you girls mind too much if I stole Tamaki-senpai away for just a moment? I just have a quick question for him, it'll only take a minute."

"Of course not!" one of the girls chirped, and they all nodded their agreement.

"We'll wait for you, Tamaki!" said another, backed by another unanimous nod. Tamaki twisted around in his seat and gave Haruhi a nervous look. He turned back to his guests and smiled as best as he could. "Excuse me, ladies." He gulped, rising. They all giggled and waved goodbye.

When they had retreated to a corner a little ways away, before she could even get a word in, Tamaki began vomiting words anxiously. "Haruhi I'm sorry I've been acting so strangely I promise I'll stop I just didn't want the twins to find out and I didn't want to give anything away I'll go back to normal I swear please don't cancel our date I really really care for you I just didn't want to make any mistakes just tell me how to act or what to do and I'll do it, I just don't want—

"Senpai!" she laughed, amused by his anxiousness. "You're fine, don't worry, I understand, and of course the date's still on."

Tamaki lit up like always at this, and his eyes watered dramatically. "Oh, Haruhi, you're so wonderful!" he gushed. But he sobered a bit as he realized something. "I wish you wouldn't call me senpai when it's just us, though…"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I was wondering who that girl is sitting over with Kyoya."

Tamaki's eyebrows furrowed. "Huh? Girl?" He looked past her in confusion, then his eyes widened. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her further into the corner. "That must be the girl he was talking about!" he saw the question in her face, he continued. "He was telling me earlier about this new girl in our grade. She's from America, her name is Ella Flynn. She's an honors student, she's here on scholarship. Like you, Haruhi!" (She rolled her eyes at his smile.) "Anyway, he hasn't been able to stop thinking about her. He thinks it's because he can't figure out why she moved here—she was kind of vague about it—but I think we both know it's something else!" he singsonged this last part, and Haruhi, after a moment of surprise, nodded her comprehension.

"You're right." She agreed. "You should have seen the way he was looking at her earlier, I've never seen him so intently focused on anyone. And I don't think I've ever seen him blush, either."

"He was blushing?" Tamaki cried. "Oh, how adorable!"

"Shh!" she urged, putting a hand on his shoulder to pull him back from la-la land. "I'm not sure about that, calm down. His face was only a little pink, I couldn't be entirely sure."

"Oh, but Haruhi, he had to be blushing, you should have heard the way he talked about her earlier!"

She cocked her head at him. "Did he really seem that interested?"

"It was the most emotional I've ever seen him." He replied seriously.

"_How strange."_ Haruhi thought. Then she chuckled to herself. She knew he had to have been lying when he said he only did things in his own interest, and his emotions were completely under his control and all that. Obviously, he could not control himself here. "This must be weird for him." She said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, clearly Kyoya-senpai has never had to deal with these kinds of emotions before. He's probably awfully confused as to what's going on in his head. And if it's like you say, and he doesn't even know what he's feeling…" she laughed. "I can only imagine how frustrating that must be!"

Tamaki considered this for a moment. "You're right!" he finally said. Then he took on his regal, Host King air: "And as his friends and fellow Hosts it is our duty to help him in this situation!"

Haruhi looked at him very cautiously. "What are you thinking…"

"I propose," he continued. "That we extend Miss Flynn an invitation to stay after the day's regular business has ceased!" He took on a more serious demeanor and continued. "At the very least we could get to know her and better assess the situation."

Haruhi looked at him, a bit skeptical. "I guess that's a good idea, but do we really want to push it?"

"I think Kyoya probably needs a little pushing."

"Alright, but don't forget we do still have a date tonight." She said this with a small smile. "I need time to go home and get ready, I'm sure you'd rather I wasn't still dressed as a boy."

Tamaki's face lit up. "Aww, Haruhi, you're so cute, I don't care how you're dressed, but don't worry, I promise I will give you enough time to go home and primp and whatever else it is you need to do! And I'll still be there to pick you up at seven thirty sharp!"

"Well, I do have to remember to get milk on the way home…" she said, more to herself than Tamaki.

This obviously wasn't what he had meant by "whatever else you need to do," but he smiled nonetheless. "Adorable!" he exclaimed, more to himself than to Haruhi.

She rolled her eyes and laughed good naturedly. "Well, for now I think it's time we get back to our guests."

He sighed, realizing she was right. "Very well, Haruhi, I do suppose you're right." He said dramatically.

She rolled her eyes and laughed at him one last time for that moment. "I'll see you later." She said, turning to go.

"Au-revoir, ma cherie!" he replied wistfully as he rejoined his guests.

"What was that about, Tamaki?" one girl asked.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, pulling his eyes away from her retreating form. "Haruhi was just wondering what kind of instant coffee to buy next!" he gave a halfhearted laugh.

_Meanwhile…_

Kyoya was painfully aware of the fact that he had NEVER done this before. That's not to say he hadn't been requested: There were a few girls who liked to stand by him and watch him work, who asked him the occasional question, and he was used to using his charm to sell their merchandise as well. But this was different. He didn't know how to actually just…talk to a girl. He wanted to figure her out, but he had no clue where to start. Thankfully for him, she was talkative enough that he could collect himself, and he didn't have to say much. He'd been drinking in everything she'd been saying since they'd sat down, and so far he'd learned this much:

She was giggly. She occasionally told a corny or overdone joke, but she delivered them in such a manner that they weren't groan-inducing, sort of the way Honey would. Her laugh was high pitched and sweet, like tinkling bells.

She was the happy-go-lucky, optimistic type, not a realist like him. She tended to put a positive spin on everything she said or did, everything that happened. When she got really excited about something, her voice got a little bit higher, and she sort of bounced in her seat, and started talking with her hands. (She claimed this was because she was thirteen percent Italian. She broke down her heritage point by point, very accurately. He found this amusing.)

She could also be very down to earth, and was very people smart. She was good with psychology and knowing how people think, and sometimes she wanted to be a therapist or psychologist. Back at home, apparently, her friends always came to her for advice when they needed it, and she had apparently usually been spot-on.

People came to her for advice a lot. There was a lot of drama in her life because she was, in fact, in drama. That is, theatre. She was an actress and a singer though (she said), not much of a dancer. Theater types apparently come with a lot of drama, which she hated, but lived with because she loved it, and her friends.

She loved people unconditionally. She saw the good in all her friends, and in people in general. She seemed to be one of those people that believes that everybody has a good soul, and that nobody ever has a flat personality.

In that last way she was like him. Believe it or not, Kyoya also believed that no person could ever be truly evil all through. Part of this he had always known, part he had taken from his older sister's constant lecturing, and part he had learned, inadvertently, from Tamaki.

Everything he learned about her fascinated him, but nothing quenched his thirst to know more. He suspected he would never be satisfied until he found out what it was he wanted to know. And yet, just sitting here with the mystery of her in his mind made him feel more satisfied than he had ever felt. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt different somehow.

He was currently ensnared in the rather sad tale of an ex-boyfriend of hers, and he paused in his meditation to ask her a question.

"But he didn't know that the friend in question was homosexual, correct?"

She sighed sadly. "Not until he read those text messages, he didn't. I still can't help but blame myself: After that, their friendship was effectively over, and that put an awful strain on the relationship."

His brow furrowed. "But it wasn't your fault. It was early, you were tired, naturally if you fell asleep on the bus you would have ended up leaning on him. If that girl who liked him really was your friend, she wouldn't have texted your boyfriend so rashly. She should have trusted you."

She smiled halfheartedly at that. "Well, thanks, and yeah, I realized after that that Cam wasn't really my friend, but still…I knew how insecure he was. I should have been more careful."

Kyoya shook his head in disagreement. "No. You couldn't have known." Before she could argue, he continued. "What happened after that?"

She sighed. "Well, after that I tried my best to make things work and smooth things over, but I guess it just became too much for him. One day before choir, he dumped me, and that was the end of that."

His eyes widened. "That's…horrible." He felt unexpected anger towards this boy he had never met. He had never deserved her, obviously. Who could hurt such a sweet, caring, innocent thing as her?

She shrugged. "Yeah…I was heartbroken, obviously, but it was really for the best." She smiled. "He's his own person now. He's finally learned that he doesn't need a girlfriend to be happy with himself. He never would have learned that if we had stayed together. He has just the right amount of self confidence. I've even heard that he and the other friend, the gay one, are speaking again."

He shook his head and laughed incredulously.

"What?" she asked with a small smile, cocking her head.

"I find your emotional resilience to be incredible." He said, smiling at her earnestly and looking up at her through his glasses as he rested his chin in his hands.

She giggled and smiled brightly. "Well, thanks!"

They looked at each other for another moment before they heard a pair of hands clapping by the door. Kyoya looked up in surprise, and Ella followed suit.

"I'm sorry to say that it is time for our guests to leave for the day." Said Tamaki with overdramatic sadness. A chorus of sad "awws" resounded throughout the room as the guests began getting up.

Kyoya looked at his watch in surprise. "Oops." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "That's usually my job, I hadn't realized it had gotten so late."

"Excuse me, Miss." Haruhi appeared behind Elle. She turned to face her. "The Host Club would like to extend you an invitation to join us for a little while longer."

Kyoya shot Haruhi a surprised look, but she was focused on Ella.

"Umm…" Ella looked at Kyoya. "Would that be alright?"

"Of course." He said with a small smile.

She turned back to Haruhi. "I'd love to!"

Haruhi smiled back. "Great."

Ella got up. "Let me just go call my mom and let her know." She walked quickly to a corner, pulling out her cell phone.

Kyoya shot Haruhi a questioning look.

"Tamaki's idea." She shrugged.

Kyoya couldn't bring himself to be annoyed at the Host King, who was at the door saying goodbye to all of their guests. Still, he had to wonder as he looked back at Ella…

What on earth was he planning?

**Typing fast cuz I shoulda been in bed seven minutes ago and I'm gonna be in trouble:-/ I love you all, reviews are my favorites! Lol I wrote this while watching Aladdin...so I hope I didn't let that color it too much. Once again had no time to proofread...I hope I can post again soon! I have concerts this weekend, so I'm not sure:( But I will try my darndest! Thanks so much for reading!**

**~FeatherSong**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this one took so long...CHOIR CONCERT SEASON HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN. DUHN DUHN DUHN. At my school that's a big deal...the smaller group I'm in has performances almost every night now through break. I'll try my best to update as much as possible, but just so you know...it won't be this quick. Hopefully once I get my research paper done things will get easier. ANYWAY I hope you guys enjoy this one, I think it's a bit longer than my other chapters. This might be a lot of fluff. Again. If it is I apologize. But it's worthwhile fluff. You'll see what I mean...I'll shut up now:) Heeeeeere we gooooo!**

"Alright, got it, thanks Mom!" Ella hung up the phone and turned back around to face the Host Club, specifically the boy who had extended her the invitation. "My mom says it's fine, I just have to be home by four thirty."

"That's great!" the boy said with a smile. His expression then changed. "I'm sorry, I guess I haven't formally introduced myself." He held out his hand. "Haruhi Fujioka. First year honors student."

Ella shook it happily. "Oh, you're on a scholarship too? My name's Ella Flynn, I'm a second year."

"Right, you're that girl from America!" Haruhi grinned. She had wanted to meet this girl, it was nice not being the only one anymore. "It was awfully brave of you to come such a long way, what motivated you?"

She laughed nervously. "It's…kinda complicated."

"Did your parents have to move for work or something?"

"Uh, no." she looked around, trying to find something, anything, to change the subject. "Hey, where'd Kyoya go?" she asked with confusion, seeing his chair empty. "He was just here…"

Haruhi looked around. "Huh. You know, I really don't know…"

Kyoya was over talking to Tamaki as he shut the door.

"What's this all about, Tamaki?" Kyoya asked his friend suspiciously.

"Why does it have to be about something?" he asked innocently. Perhaps a little too innocently. "I just thought we'd want to find out more about your first REAL guest, Kyoya."

Kyoya narrowed his eyes. "Right."

Tamaki was about to respond with false offense when he noticed something over Kyoya's shoulder. "Uh oh."

"Hm?" Kyoya turned around to see what he meant.

Hikaru and Kaouru each had an arm around Elle, and she was looking back and forth between them.

"So…" one of the redheads began.

"Why would you pick KYOYA of all people?" the other finished.

"Oh I dunno." She giggled, slightly sarcastic. "I guess he was just the first one I saw. Why, do you boys think you have something better to offer?"

They then took their arms off of her and put them around each other in front of her. "Of course." They chorused seductively.

She giggled again and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if I believe you…" she teased.

"That's enough of your mischief, Hikaru and Kaouru!" a blond boy came sauntering up to them next, effectively sweeping them away. "Quit trying to steal our dear Kyoya's guests."

"Aww c'mon boss." One said

"Yeah, we were just trying to have a little fun." Said the other.

"No need to make her uncomfortable, she's new here!" he said dramatically.

"Actually," said Haruhi. "She was handling herself pretty well."

"Really?" he looked at Ella, seeming mildly surprised. He took Ella's hand and held it out, and looked her directly in the eye as he introduced himself. "Tamaki Suoh, second year student and Host King, not to mention Kyoya's best friend!" he smiled giddily on that last piece.

"Oh, wow, it's great to meet you!" she said with an earnest smile.

Tamaki's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You're so cheery!" he motioned behind him. "You've already met Haruhi, of course, I think the two of you will be great friends. And these two shady twins over here are Hikaru and Kaouru." Each boy waved as he mentioned their name.

Ella looked like she was concentrating a bit. "So that one's Hikaru, and that one's Kaouru. I'll remember that."

They laughed. "No you won't."

She smirked. "We'll see about that."

Their eyes widened slightly at her challenge, but then they smirked at each other.

"Aww, she's positively refreshing! So confident!" Tamaki rubbed her head vigorously, mussing her hair in the process.

"That's quite enough, Tamaki." Kyoya appeared behind him and put his hand on his shoulder, then stepped in front of him. "I'm sorry about these knuckleheads, they get a little…eccentric sometimes."

Ella giggled. "No, that's alright. They kind of remind me of my theatre friends from home." She smiled happily.

Kyoya rolled his eyes and smiled. "I'm so sorry." He said sarcastically.

She giggled at him.

Haruhi looked around. "Hey, where'd Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai go?"

"Honey left a box of cupcakes at Mori's kendo studio, so they went back to get them." Said Hikaru.

"…a box of cupcakes?" questioned Ella, cocking her head to the side.

Kyoya laughed. "You'll understand when you meet them."

She kept her confused expression for a moment longer, then shrugged and smiled. "Well okay. So, is that why you asked me to stay longer? To meet all of you? Gosh, I feel so special." She giggled.

"Well, you are special, my dear!" Tamaki said with a million-dollar smile. He looked at Kyoya's slightly narrowed eyes and cleared his throat. "Okay, Hosts, staff meeting, uh, over there!" he called suddenly, pointing to the farthest corner from Kyoya's desk.

"Uhh…why?" asked Kaouru.

"Don't ask questions, obey your king!" Tamaki commanded, apparently offended.

The twins shrugged and followed Tamaki, as did Haruhi. But when Kyoya started to follow suit, Tamaki stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going? Entertain your friend, Kyoya, don't be rude!"

"But I thought…" Kyoya rubbed a finger to his temple in resignation. "Nevermind. Fine." He shot Tamaki one last confused look before turning back to Ella.

"So," he began, pulling at his collar. "I am apparently not being included in this, uh, "staff meeting"…even though I AM the Vice President…" he added darkly.

Ella smiled, hoping to ease his hostility. "Well, then, what shall we do?"

His eyebrows rose when he realized he had no idea. "Well…" he thought for a moment. "I do have that cosplay to organize…" he regarded Ella. "You said you're in theatre?"

She nodded, cocking her head to the side as a silent question.

"How would you like to help with some…costuming?" he asked her with a small smile.

She smiled back. "I'd love to!"

He led her to the table where the folder that Kaouru had handed him still sat, and opened it, revealing the sketches inside.

She pulled her chair over next to him. "Do you mind?" she asked him with her big blue eyes slightly widened. "It's just easier for me to see this way."

"Not at all, of course." He said, motioning for her to sit. She smiled and did so, and he couldn't help but notice how close she was, their shoulders almost touching at this small table. He felt his heart rate increase. _"Why?"_ he asked himself. "_I know I'm not used to being so close to people, but this is ridiculous."_

She pulled out the pictures and looked at them. "So what are we doing here?" she asked. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder, and as she did Kyoya couldn't help but notice the fact that she smelled positively lovely, almost intoxicating. He couldn't even register her question for a moment.

"Well," he didn't like the fact that his voice sounded shaky. Again. He cleared his throat before he continued. "We do these cosplay events where we dress up in costumes. The guests enjoy it, and it gives us a little variety. It's been left up to me to decide which costumes everyone is wearing. Now, I know Tamaki will play the football player, since it is my understanding that the American stereotype is that the football player is the classic heartthrob." He looked at her with a small question in his eyes. He remembered the specific one, but he didn't have the nerve to ask.

She rolled her eyes and laughed, perhaps a bit darkly, which startled him a bit, but not necessarily in a bad way. "I suppose so, yeah."

"What was the bitterness for?" he asked with a laugh.

"That stereotype has recently changed, now they're kind of portrayed as jerks or idiots, but I think the old one still stands as well."

Kyoya mirrored her dark laughter and looked over in Tamaki's direction. "Either way it fits, Tamaki can also be quite an idiot."

She giggled. "Aww, that's not very nice, I thought you guys were best friends?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Did he tell you that?" at her nod he rolled his eyes. "I suppose we are. He can be a real pain in the neck though."

She laughed. "I know how you feel. But sometimes you can't help but love them."

He laughed simply because she was so right. "I suppose." He allowed.

"Alright, what about the rest of these?" she said, holding up the rest of the papers.

"Well, see, that's where I'm unsure. I don't really know the rest of the stereotypes, and I do think what they were going for here was an American theme." He smiled at her slyly. "That's where you come in. I know you haven't met them all yet, but do you think you could help me match each man to an appropriate costume?"

She grinned brightly. "Absolutely, I'm flattered!" she gave him a half smile that was almost mischievous. "Where shall we start, sir?"

He considered for a moment. "Well, what would be easiest for you?"

Ella looked at the drawings. "Well, let's see…the twins should be basketball players, I think."

"Okay, sure." He smiled and nodded. "But out of curiosity, why?"

Ella's brow furrowed. "I'm not really sure…" then something seemed to cross her mind and she laughed. "I guess they kinda remind me of my little sister. She plays basketball."

"You have a little sister…like the Hitachin twins?" he shook his head in disbelief. "I'm so sorry."

She laughed. "It's alright, I'm used to it. I have an angel of a little brother anyway, so it makes up for it."

Kyoya laughed, putting the paper aside. "Alright, so that's settled, what's next?"

"Hmm…what are Honey and Mori like?"

Kyoya thought for a moment. "Well…Honey is a third year, but he acts much like a small child. He loves cake and sweets, and stuffed animals. He has a stuffed bunny he calls Usa-chan.

"So…when you say small child, you mean like…five or six?"

"Correct."

Her eyes suddenly widened and she grinned. "Ohmygosh I can't wait to meet him!" she squealed. "I love little kids." She explained upon seeing his questioning expression.

He chuckled at her excitement, which in a way almost mirrored the way Honey's was at times. "I'm sure you two will get along splendidly." He continued his descriptions: "Mori is kind of like his guardian, I suppose. He looks after him, but that only slightly softens his image. He's the strong silent type, with emphasis on the strong. They're both martial arts masters, but you'd definitely expect it from Mori."

Ella considered that for a moment. "Well, in that case, Mori should totally be the hockey player."

Kyoya didn't really understand, but he nodded anyway. "Okay, I trust your judgement."

"And Honey…" she continued. "Well, there are two stereotypical little kid sports, soccer and tee ball, which is like a miniature form of baseball." Then she looked over at Haruhi for a minute. "But for some reason, Haruhi is striking me as a soccer player."

He looked over as well. "Actually, I do see what you mean." She smiled at him. "Okay, great," he said, smiling back as he took the other papers and put them aside. "So Haruhi plays soccer and Honey plays…tee ball." He then furrowed his brow as he saw she only had one left. "So that leaves me…"

She grinned as she turned it around. "The referee. I figure it makes sense anyway, you do kind of seem like the one who's really in charge here, no matter what Tamaki says." She giggled and smiled knowingly.

He blinked in surprise for a moment before breaking into near-hysterical laughter. "You are," he said between fits. "The most perceptive person I've ever met."

She giggled and smiled at him happily, and he couldn't help but stare at her as he calmed his laughter and rested his chin in his hand incredulously. This girl…

He couldn't even really complete the thought.

_Meanwhile…_

"Boss, I don't understand why you'd call a staff meeting…" began Kaouru.

"…If we don't even have anything to meet about." finished Hikaru.

"Not to mention the fact that half of us aren't even here." They both said.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "You two are really thick, can't you see that he's trying to give Kyoya some alone time with that girl?"

The twins' eyes widened as they slowly turned around, saw the two sitting close together and talking, and turned back.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "You act like the guy doesn't have feelings."

"He doesn't!" they exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes again. "Yes, he does. He just doesn't always act like it because he's been trained to believe that he doesn't."

"But clearly, he does." Tamaki broke in. "Which leads me to the REASON for this meeting." He shot the twins a look, then turned back to face all of them with a giddy smile. "What do we think of her?"

"I like her." Said Kaouru.

Hikaru nodded his agreement. "Yeah, she's not intimidated by us."

"She's fun to banter with!" Kaouru added

Tamaki smiled. "Haruhi?"

Haruhi shrugged. "What's not to like? She seems sweet, she can handle these two, and clearly Kyoya really likes her." She said, gesturing at the picture over her shoulder, of her smiling as Kyoya laughed hard at something. "I've never seen him so happy."

Tamaki nodded in agreement. "Never."

At that moment the door burst open and a blur of color ran by them, scattering papers everywhere, shortly followed by a very intense looking Mori.

"Mitskuni. Stop. You need to calm down. It's naptime."

The blur was zooming all over the room, giggling and laughing incessantly, as Mori followed it with his eyes, trying to find the opportune moment to—

He reached out and grabbed the giggling boy by his collar. His face was covered in crumbs, and he had multicolored icing all over him. He started fussing the minute he realized he'd been caught.

"Mitskuni. We need to clean you up."

"Nooooo Takashi! I wanna play more!" he whined.

"Uh oh…" Tamaki said. "Those cupcakes didn't have…"

Mori nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking extremely angry with himself.

"I don't understand," said Haruhi. "What was wrong with the cupcakes?"

"There's a certain kind of processed sugar that Honey cannot handle." Kyoya appeared from nowhere behind Haruhi, startling her a great deal. "It's a form of fondant combined with certain dyes. It makes him extremely hyper and awfully ornery."

Mori was trying to get at Honey's face with a damp cloth, but the boy kept squirming away.

"No! No no no no noooo!" the fussy third year proceeded to start crying and throwing a tantrum.

"Mitskuni. Stay still." You could tell Mori was starting to get annoyed.

"May I?" Ella stepped forward from her place next to Kyoya and held her hand out for the cloth.

Mori raised his eyebrows at her, but handed her the cloth, shrugging, and put the sniffling boy on the ground (still holding him so that he couldn't get away).

Ella knelt down and raised the cloth to Honey's sticky face. At first, he pulled away, whimpering, but she took him gently by the chin and turned him to face her. "Come on, Honey." She said softly. "You'll feel better once all this stuff is off your face, I promise."

He pouted and sniffed, but let her proceed to wipe the icing off of him as the rest of the club looked on in awe. Mori's eyebrows were nearly to his hairline: Never in his life had Honey calmed down that quickly. He had thought it to be impossible.

"There." Elle said with a smile as she got the last of the icing off. "Better?" she asked.

Honey started to smile, but then yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I feel sleepy…" he said.

"Aww, come here cutie." She began to pick him up. "Do you mind?" she asked Mori.

Mori shook his head, though he still wasn't exactly sure what was going on. He stood again as this girl picked up Honey and carried him over to the bed he used for naptime. She sat down and started singing to him softly.

"What do you think?" whispered Tamaki. "This is Ella Flynn, Kyoya's guest from today." He took care to make the next part even quieter. "He definitely has feelings for her, but he hasn't realized it yet. We invited her to stay later so we could sort of…help out. And figure out if she's good enough for her."

Mori nodded his approval. "She's good with Mitskuni. He's never taken to anyone quite that quickly."

Tamaki grinned. "Great, that's all of us! The next step is to try to figure out a way to get her to work with the club…more often…maybe permanently…"

Mori shrugged, signaling that Tamaki was on his own for that part.

Kyoya was trying to listen into the lullaby Ella was singing to Honey when Tamaki appeared beside him.

"Have you figured it out yet?" he said, way too happily.

Kyoya shot him an annoyed side glance. "Which, her riddle or yours?"

"Either."

"No." he almost pouted. It took all Tamaki had not to laugh out loud.

"Oh, come on, Kyoya, you really don't see it?"

He looked at his friend, slightly annoyed, but with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, how do you feel when you're with her?" Tamaki prodded.

Kyoya considered that for a moment. "Curious. Confused. Really confused. Nervous. Incredulous…" he thought for another moment. "Happy." He finished. He raised his eyebrows slightly. Then more. His eyes widened. "You're not suggesting…"

"Look at her, Kyoya."

"I am. She's…she's very pretty." Tamaki raised one eyebrow, and he looked again. Blond hair gleaming in the sunlight, smiling down at the small boy in her lap as she sang to him, her smile lighting up her whole face, eyes sparkling and smiling. Could eyes smile? Was that even possible? It had to be. Hers were doing it.

"She's…beautiful." he finally said.

He realized it then. It wasn't the question of why she was here. To be honest, he hadn't thought about that for over an hour. It was just…her. Her smile. Her laugh. Her voice. Her hair. Her eyes. Everything about her. Being around her made him feel happier than he'd ever been. He wanted to know more about her…no, he wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to be in her life, and he wanted her in his.

All of this happened in his head in less than a second, while on the outside, unbeknownst to him, Tamaki and Haruhi were watching his eyes widen in disbelief, and his face turn bright red as his hand slowly came up to cover his mouth.

"Did he finally figure it out?" Haruhi asked, looking up at Tamaki.

Tamaki nodded, then grinned. "You know, I could be wrong, but I think we may be witnessing the beginnings of love here."

**GAAAAHHHHH I have such a crush on Kyoya. You've probably figured that out by now. I don't think I have much else to say...my contacts are dry from staring at the screen. I love you all! Reviews are my favorites! I think I'm slowly going insane! Hahahahahahahahahaha...I'll update as soon as I possibly can. Just know that might mean next weekend...just please don't lose faith in me. You're the best:D**

**~FeatherSong**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry, guys! I did warn it would take a while. I finished this last night, I just didn't have time to upload. But here it is! It's mostly inner-self thinky fluff stuff on both ends. Another chapter with some major TamaxHaru in it too. This is a bit of a different side of Kyoya here, because he's inside of his own head for a while. And I also hope this gives you a better perspective on Ella: I had intended to have her character a bit more developed by now.**

** I think after this I might have time to write: research paper is done, major concerts are almost over, precalc got easier. We're winding down for break a bit early, folks! But hey, you came to read a story, not about my life, so heeeeeere we go!**

"I'm home, Mom!" Ella called as she walked in the front door of their house. It was some kind of high-rise apartment penthouse thing in the city. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, a large common room and a kitchen. It wasn't what she was used to, having grown up in a run-of-the-mill, two-floor house in suburbia, USA, but it was nice and she liked it. "_Where is everyone?" _she wondered. She threw her shoulder bag on the nearest chair, intending to start her homework in her room once she had a snack.

Her younger sister Emma was in the kitchen, standing at the counter eating something. She turned around and almost spit it out.

"You look," she choked through her laughter with her mouth full. "Completely ridiculous!"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Oh whatever…"

"You look like a giant yellow marshmallow!" she continued, cracking up.

"Where's your uniform, brat?" Ella retorted sarcastically. The slightly taller fifteen-year old was wearing her usual yoga pants and swim team t-shirt, instead of her middle school uniform.

She made a face. "I took it off. That thing was gross. Waaay too many frills and bows." She considered her sister a moment. "You'd like it."

Ella laughed before her eyes were directed to what Emma was holding. "Did Mom make cookies?" she asked excitedly. Her mother's chocolate chip cookies were the absolute best.

Emma nodded with a smile and handed her two cookies. She grinned and took a bite. Delicious. Tasted like home. "Where's everyone else?" she asked with her mouth full.

Emma shrugged. "Ask Ricky, I think he knows. He's in his room playing video games or something."

"Kay." Ella nodded. She stepped up the single stair to the part of the apartment where the rooms were and opened the door to the smallest room.

Her fourteen year old brother Errick was sprawled out on his bed, absorbed in his handheld game, still wearing his middle school uniform. He, unlike Emma, went to the private middle school. (Emma hadn't even bothered with the test: She didn't care much, seeing as she only had one school year there anyway.) His blond hair was curling in odd places: Ella rolled her eyes as she realized he probably hadn't brushed it all day.

"Hey boy," she said, snapping him out of his trance and causing him to look up.

"When did you get home?" he asked confusedly.

She chuckled. "Like, five minutes ago. Dad still at work?"

He nodded absently.

"Where's Mom?"

"Jobhunting."

She looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Don't you have homework?"

"Done." He said dismissively. "It was easy." He looked at his watch then looked back at her with his brow furrowed. "Plus I've been home for like, two hours. Where were you?"

"I went to a…uh, a club." She said a little sheepishly.

"Really, already? What club?" he seemed a little excited.

"Oh, you know, just a kind of…meet and greet, get to know people kind of thing…"

"Oh, cool." He turned back to his game.

She sat down on the bed next to her baby brother. "How about you, how was your first day?"

"Good." He looked up again. "I think I made some friends in my English class. They thought my accent was really good. And kind of funny. And they laughed when I taught them curse words. Did you make any friends?"

She smiled and laughed. "I suppose I did." She thought for a moment, then laughed again. "And in English class too."

He chuckled. "Cool."

She kissed him on the forehead, at which he rolled his eyes but smiled, then she got up and left his room. She grabbed her bag, and headed to her room to start her work. She climbed up to her bed (top bunk) and put her pen to the paper of her math homework. But before long, the graphs and equations faded away, and all she could think about was Kyoya.

He was…fascinating. The way his mind worked seemed to be so different than anything she'd ever seen. He was so sure of himself, so calm, so cool. It was different than what she was used to, but pleasantly so. Ever so pleasantly.

And yet, he was so kind to her, so sweet to her, and she got the impression that he wasn't that way with everyone. Or even anyone. She just wanted to know more about him. She wanted to spend more time with him. Spending time with him made her happy…so happy. He wasn't exactly funny…but still he made her laugh. How did he do that?

And there was something hypnotizing about the way he looked at her. His eyes were nearly black, and he clearly remembered his intense gaze over the tops of his glasses, a small, barely noticeable smile on his lips. He made her feel like she was the only person in the world. Was that his host training? But they'd said she was his first real guest….

No, it couldn't be. He was like that even before she came to the club. He gave her that look the entire time they spoke in English class too. And even a bit the first time he talked to her.

The first time he talked to her…why would he be so kind? She knew he gave the reason, but was that the whole reason? Maybe it was his whole reason…but then there's the question of, "Was he meant to do that, by destiny?" If he hadn't, after all, they probably wouldn't ever have spoken, except for maybe a quick introduction in the Host Club, following which she would have simply tagged along with Terri or Mizune.

She laughed as she realized that if it hadn't been for those two bitchy girls, she never would have met Kyoya. "_I'll have to thank them someday…"_ she thought to herself sarcastically.

The conclusion was officially drawn: Ella had fallen HARD for Kyoya Ootori. Harder than she had ever fallen for any boy in one day. He was gorgeous, and kind, and funny without being funny, and intense, and intriguing, and different, and…perfect.

She sighed at herself. _"Way to go, Ella. Get yourself in this deep already, why dontcha? Not like this didn't always use to be your problem. Not like you can't afford these distractions…"_

She had known it was inevitable. But in the spirit of trying to stick to her guns only a little, she reigned in her daydreams and refocused on her homework…

For about five more minutes.

_Meanwhile_…

Kyoya Ootori arrived home from the Host Club after about an hour of sitting in a corner trying desperately to focus on financing…or anything at all…after Ella left. His mind was gone. He was somewhere else, and he couldn't get back. He didn't even think of his homework, he simply flopped on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

What was happening to him?

This was the first time he'd felt this way about anyone in his entire life. For God's sake, Tamaki practically had to TELL him what HE was feeling! Since when was he the confused one?!

He put his fingers to his temples. His glasses got in the way. He ripped them off and tossed them on his bedside table, then covered his face with a pillow. He needed to unjumble the giant mess in his head. How was he supposed to do that? How did he normally reason through things?

He remembered the practice he had taught himself as a small child, to ask himself individual questions. Eventually each question led to several others until most if not all were answered, and hopefully his world would be set right again.

Question one…how had this even happened?

Okay. He approached her in the hall to stop her from being sent to the wrong room and made a fool of.

Why?

Well because he could finally put those girls in their place, of course. They were rude and obnoxious and needed to be stood up to.

Why, afterwards, did he simply not let her be?

She did still need help, after all. If he was nothing else he was polite.

Why did he feel the need to explain his actions to her?

That one kind of had him stumped. He could have followed his normal patterns and just walked away, but he felt the need to brush away her thoughts of him simply being a nice guy.

Well, why had he done that to Haruhi at the mall that day?

He laughed in self spite as he realized he usually did such things to keep girls from getting the wrong idea and falling for him. It was a habit at this point when he sensed a girl had some amount of budding feelings for him. Well great. He supposed he actually wanted this one to like him. He hit the pillow covering his face in lieu of hitting himself in the head.

Wait a minute. Did that mean she did in fact have feelings for him?

He thought it over almost giddily for a moment before he realized that he could be wrong. After all, he was wrong about Haruhi that day. She hadn't been developing feelings for him at all.

Well damn it. Now the fact was established that his radar was completely off. One more thing to worry about. He flipped over suddenly and growled into his pillow. Why was this so god damned frustrating?!

He stopped, rolled over, and took a deep breath. _"Get back to your line of questioning."_ He told himself.

Okay: Why couldn't he stop thinking about her afterwards?

Well, because she had been so cryptic…

No. No, he knew he was only fooling himself with that answer. Maybe that had been it at first, but after English class he knew it was more than that. The minute she sat down next to him and started talking to him, she became more than just a puzzle. She was beautiful, first off…

But wait. He had seen other girls he thought were beautiful and remained completely calm. Why was she so different? Why had he had to leave the room in the middle of class to get himself under control? He knew the excuse of an extra cup of coffee was completely lame. Why, then?

He was…attracted to her. He realized this with some difficulty. There was some subtle difference between beauty and attractiveness. And, he supposed, it was deeper than just the way she looked. It was she herself that made her so attractive to him. She was sweet, and funny, and calm, yet giggly. She was like the embodiment of the air itself, a playful breeze; blowing through and making him shiver. Or of the ocean, calm and soothing; but the waves carrying weight and changing gravity, moving him with her constantly changing tides, he letting himself be carried away without even realizing. She reminded him of a storybook, a fairy or a princess, something directly out of a child's fictitious fantasy. And yet…she was real. Not only in existing, which was incredible in itself, but in that she wasn't pretentious or snobby or uptight or shallow like so many other girls at Ouran. She was deep and honest and genuine in everything she did or said. When she was telling that story about her ex and her friends, he could tell she had been genuinely haunted by it, and had also genuinely forgiven him. That was almost inhuman, it was so virtuous. Or…maybe it was human. Just not the plastic kind or shiny cold metal kind he was used to. Real. Exactly…real.

Suddenly his phone rang, snapping him out of himself. He realized it was dark…what time was it? He checked the clock. 10:14. Where had four hours gone?

He picked up his phone not bothering to check the caller ID. "Kyoya!" came the voice of an over-the-top excited Tamaki Suoh.

He winced a bit. "Tamaki, I'd appreciate it if you could take it down a few decibel levels."

"Oh, sorry." Tamaki whispered dramatically. "Kyoya, I just got back from my date with Haruhi!"

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't say you had to whisper, idiot. How did it go?"

"WONDERFUL!" he exclaimed. "We went to dinner at a commoners franchise—you know they actually do make decent food, they're not all cheap burgers and fries—and then a movie and she leaned on my shoulder and let me put my arm around her…and then afterwards we went out for dessert and we shared a milkshake and it was lovely and then…and then…she scooted closer to me and…" he sighed dreamily.

"And then…?"

"She kissed me!"

Kyoya was surprised, that didn't really seem like Haruhi. "Really?"

"Well…on the cheek, but still! Haruhi kissed me!" Kyoya could practically see him dancing around his room.

He nodded. That seemed much more like Haruhi. Sweet, but demure. "That's great, Tamaki. Well, did you ask her, then?"

"Just wait, I'm not done!" Tamaki continued. "After that I wanted to take the car home but she insisted we walk…so I walked her all the way up to the door and then…I asked her if she'd like to be my girlfriend and…"

"And?"

"She said yes!" Kyoya could hear his delighted peals of laughter through the phone. "And then she hugged me goodnight…and….."

"Oh for god's sake Tamaki—"

"She looked me in the eyes." His voice got quiet and breathy here. "And I looked back at her…and we both leaned in, and…"

Yes, this version of the first kiss definitely sounded more like Haruhi.

"Oh Kyoya, that kiss was amazing. I mean, I've kissed other girls before, but it's never felt like THAT. I felt like I'd been electrocuted, but…in a good way."

He smiled a little. "After the kiss, then? Then what happened?"

"She hugged me one last time and I kissed her one last quick time and she went upstairs and before she went inside she looked over her shoulder and smiled at me and I smiled back and…" he sighed again. "Oh Kyoya it was perfect. She's so perfect. She's…she's…" there was a pause. "OH MY GOD KYOYA SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND! HARUHI IS MY GIRLFRIEND! I'M HARUHI'S BOYFRIEND! KYOYA!"

He winced again. "Again. Decibels. But congratulations, Tamaki, I'm happy for you." He smiled a bit behind the phone.

"Aww, thank you Kyoya, that was so sweet! I think that Ella girl is rubbing off on you!" he singsonged. "By the way, how are you feeling in regards to her?"

Kyoya sighed tiredly. "Jumbled. Tons of crap all jumbled together. But…" he sighed again. "I know I like her. A lot. Which is…weird. For me." He paused. "Really weird…"

Tamaki laughed. "Oh Kyoya, but this is so sweet! Listen, the whole club likes her: I was thinking we maybe make her a permanent member! What do you say?"

Kyoya balked. "What, you mean like add a female host? Have her host other men? How is that even…no, no Tamaki, absolutely not—"

He laughed again. "Calm down, Mommy, that's not what I meant. She could organize something or something or…I dunno. I'm sure we can find something for her to do."

Kyoya's eyes widened a bit and he smiled unconsciously. "Cosplay."

"What?"

He grinned. "Cosplay, Tamaki! She's in drama, she helped me organize some today and she was great. She could be our official cosplay organizer."

"Well…Renege won't be happy." Tamaki laughed. "But it sounds like a great idea!"

Kyoya smiled. "Great. Well, I'm gonna go, Tamaki…I still have to do my homework."

"Aww, okay, bye Kyoya!"

"Bye."

He hung up the phone and took out his chemistry homework. He tried to focus on the formulas and notations…but eventually they disappeared and all he could see was Ella…smiling…giggling…laughing…

Well…he could wait a few more minutes to start his homework.

**BTW! That one review about changing Kyoya just enough (your name escapes me right now dreadfully sorry) I'd just like to thank you, that's exactly what I was going for! I read that and kind of freaked:D Love y'all for reviewing and favoriting and following and stuff! Will update within the week, see you soon!**

**~FeatherSong**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay...sorry I lied. I started to write on tuesday...then had no time for the rest of the week:-/ Buuut here it is! This is more KyoyaKyoyaKyoya. Small Ella paragraphs. I just can't help it...;D Ok heeere you go:)**

The high, annoying, repetitive beep of the alarm was never a welcome sound, but it felt even more unwelcome this morning. Kyoya glowered at it with utmost hatred. Why did six thirty have to come so soon? He felt no motivation to face another boring, uneventful day…

Wait a minute.

Yes he did.

It all came rushing back to him in a flood, the events of yesterday. The people of yesterday. The person. Ella. He had a…a crush. He couldn't wait to see her. He hurriedly slid out of bed and walked briskly to his bathroom, as opposed to the usual sluggish dragging of his feet.

He regarded his face in the mirror and was slightly surprised to discover that he had an unconscious smile on his face, and that his cheeks were slightly red. And he was blurry. Where were his glasses? That's right, he put them on his bedside table last night. He half jogged there to get them, almost tripping over his shoes. He laughed at himself as he haphazardly shoved the glasses on. He wasn't used to having this much energy in the morning. It was making him feel just a little crazy. And a little giddy. And he was okay with it. Why was he okay with it?

He managed to slowly calm himself as he went through the monotony of his morning routine, so that by the time he got downstairs he at least had the outward appearance of being his usual cool, calm self. He had been counting on a quiet breakfast across the table from his father, neither of them speaking, as usual, to completely calm himself, but his assumption was quickly proven wrong as he came in to find his older sister sitting at the table as well.

"Good morning, Kyoya-kun!" she cried, a big smile on her face as usual.

"Good morning, Fuyumi." He said with a small smile as he sat.

He noticed a slight quirk of his father's eyebrow behind the paper as his sister replied to him. "My, you seem cheery today, Kyoya! What has you so chipper?"

He chuckled. "Nothing, Fuyumi." He then proceeded to take a heaping plateful of eggs and a couple of slices of bacon.

"Wow, hungry Kyoya?" she asked suprisedly. Normally he took minimal portions of breakfast and just drank coffee. "Coffee?" she offered.

He shook his head. "No, thank you."

She looked at him oddly. Even his father shot him a mildly confused glance over the top of his paper.

"I feel awake enough this morning, that's all. Yesterday I experienced some rather distressing symptoms of over caffeination anyway. I think it best that I refrain today."

Fuyumi looked concerned. "Symptoms? What symptoms?"

"Trembling hands, trouble concentrating, flushed skin, racing heartbeat, general confusion."

She just looked at him a moment. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it again and studied him more intently.

"Oh, Kyoya," his father said unexpectedly, not looking away from his paper. "There was a package for you by the front door."

Kyoya gulped down the remainder of his breakfast as he pushed out from his chair. "Thank you, father." He said, bowing to him before he left the room.

The package his father had referred to was relatively large, and addressed to him from the Hitachin twins' mother's company. "_These must be the costumes. They're early. But why did they have them sent here instead of to the club?" _

As he was thinking this, Fuyumi appeared beside him. "What's that, Kyoya?" she asked amicably.

"Just some cosplay for the Host Club." He replied, looking it over.

"Oh, that's nice." She said sincerely. "Kyoya…" her voice changed. "Are you sure you're alright? You're acting a little strange…"

"I'm fine, Fuyumi." He said reassuringly.

"Are you_ sure?_" she implored. "Kyoya, you can always tell me if there's something wrong…or if there's something you need to talk about…I know you're very introspective, but sometimes it can help to get someone else's point of view. You can always trust me."

Kyoya was about to brush her off again, but then he considered her offer for a moment. He didn't really know what he was doing here, and he doubted Tamaki would be much help. But here was someone he trusted, possibly the person he trusted most in the world. He could get over his pride and ask her for help, it would benefit him in the long run. Maybe if he knew what he was doing he wouldn't be so nervous.

"Actually, Fuyumi…there is something I could use your help with."

She looked surprised and delighted. "Really? Sure, Kyoya-kun, anything!"

He checked his watch. 7:14. He had a little time to talk with her, he could afford to be a little late to school today. The homeroom teachers didn't even really care if you were in school, half of the students in his homeroom habitually skipped so that they could sleep for an extra half an hour. "Why don't we go into the sitting room?"

"Sure." She said, excitement still tinting her voice as she half jogged to the loveseat and sat down, motioning urgently for him to sit beside her.

"Okay." She said once he sat. "What is it?"

He almost grimaced. "Well…you see…I'm in this, uh, situation. And it's something I've never experienced before and thought I'd never have to experience. And I, uh…I could really use the advice of someone who has…uh, experienced it…although maybe from a different viewpoint…" he looked up at her, desperately hoping she understood his babbling so he wouldn't have to actually say it.

He was disappointed by her next words. "I'm sorry, Kyoya-kun, I'm not following…"

He sighed, and took a deep breath before he continued so quickly that his sentence was almost one word. "I've developed feelings for a girl from America that I met yesterday."

After taking a moment to comprehend, Fuyumi's eyes widened, and she gasped then grinned and hugged him violently. "Oh, Kyoya-kun, this is absolutely wonderful, you have a crush, how cute!" she held the dazed boy at arm's length. "What's her name, what's she like? Is she smart? Is she pretty? How'd you meet her?"

He sighed, but chuckled a bit. He couldn't say that he hadn't expected that sort of reaction from his doting big sister. "Her name is Ella Flynn, and she's a scholarship student, so I'd assume she's smart. She's giggly and sweet and caring and the most lovely and innocent thing I've ever seen. I sort of rescued her from some hazers in the hallway yesterday, and then she turned out to be in my English class too. And then she showed up at the club that afternoon, and requested me. Then the rest of the hosts decided that it would be a good idea for her to stay after, and at some point Tamaki coaxed me into realizing that I have a "crush" on her." At her still raised eyebrows, he added: "And yes. She's absolutely beautiful."

Fuyumi's grin nearly split her face. "Oh my goodness, that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard."

"So, my question is…what do I do?"

She sobered a bit, but not much. "Well, try asking her out with a group of people there too. She'll still know you're interested, but it won't be strictly official, so it's less pressure. If she says yes, which she probably will because you are such a charming and lovely individual, then you're pretty much in."

"And if she says no?"

"She won't." she said confidently. "But the telltale signs of a "not interested" are a face of discomfort when you ask her, and a vague excuse as to why not. But I'm only telling you that so you know what you're NOT going to get. Because you are perfect. And besides, she requested you, that probably means she likes you."

He didn't bother to correct her in saying that it was a least of the evils, friendship type of request, because he was too busy realizing something. He had spent all of last night considering his own feelings for Ella, but never once had it crossed his mind to wonder whether or not Ella was reciprocating. Now he felt even more nervous than before.

However, as he checked his watch and observed that he could still be on time if he left now, he feigned his natural calm demeanor as he stood and smiled at his sister. She had helped a bit, he supposed. "Thank you, Fuyumi." He said bowing slightly. "Maybe I'll try that today."

He picked up his package and headed out the door to the car, as his sister called after him: "Have a wonderful day at school, little brother!"

_Later…_

Ella hated Pre-Calc. With a passion. What the heck was a radian, anyway? The teacher was apparently explaining it at the front of the room, but it was too early for mathematical Japanese to make sense to her, so she just kind of zoned out. She had a lot to think about.

Before she knew it, the bell was ringing, and she gathered up her books to leave gratefully. Japanese Conversation would probably be better, at least now she knew she had Terri to talk to. She turned when she heard a delicate but pointed cough behind her.

"Did you see, Yoko? It looks like the "honors student" thinks she's above doing the work."

"Yes Yuri, I did notice, I wonder if she's really that smart?"

These were the two girls from yesterday. Remembering what her mother always told her, she simply ignored them and walked away, out of the room. Too bad their taunting followed her.

Kyoya was walking by just as he noticed Ella's class releasing, and her coming out nearly last. He lit up inside as he walked over to talk to her, feeling giddy but a little nervous. He stopped dead, however, when he noticed who was following her. His eyes narrowed as he listened in to what they were saying.

"…wish I were such a_ great student."_ The one named Yuri finished derisively.

"Oh—oh where are you going, Flynn-sama?" said Yoko when Ella started heading for her next class.

"That's right, you should be going in the other direction, don't you remember?" Yuri snickered.

Kyoya could take no more of those comments. They had no right to be using her for their own cruel entertainment. She was so much better than they were.

"Did we not learn our lesson yesterday, ladies?" he said from behind them through gritted teeth, barely able to muster saying the word "ladies" in reference to them. "Of course," he continued, just as angrily. "I use the term 'ladies' loosely. You're behaving more like children."

Yoko looked scared, her lips were pressed tight. But Yuri was able to muster up the courage to snap back at him. "What business is it of yours, Ootori? We're not afraid of you." She gulped after she said this, contradicting her own words.

He leaned in close to her. "You should be." He said menacingly. She gulped again, and Yoko pulled on her arm as if begging her to just walk away.

"Wh—whatever…" Yuri stuttered as she started to walk away.

Ella couldn't believe her eyes. Kyoya was so angry and menacing. It was a little scary. And yet…kind of hot. And maybe even a little cute…why was he defending her so avidly? Did he like her? This was definitely different from yesterday.

"Oh no." he said, catching Yuri by the arm as he tried to walk away. "You are both going to apologize to Miss Flynn." He grabbed each of their shoulders and turned them to face her. "Go ahead." He growled.

"Sorry…" they both mumbled.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you." He said.

"Sorry." They said, louder, but with resentment.

"Good enough." He sighed. "Now get out of my sight. And don't you dare let me catch you bothering her—or anyone else—again."

They both nodded quickly before running away, faster than rabbits.

Kyoya's expression became less and less tense as they got farther away. When they were out of sight, he sighed and turned to her. "Are you alright, Ella?" he said softly, in stark contrast to his voice just moments before.

She almost forgot how to speak. "I'm…yes. I'm fine…thank you, Kyoya." She managed, gratefully. She truly was grateful. Whether she showed it or not, she was a little hurt when people talked about her or made fun of her. But since she'd had trouble with it when she was little—a lot of trouble—she knew how to handle herself with it. Still, she'd rather it didn't happen at all.

Kyoya didn't really know what to do. He could tell by the look in her wide, blue, sparkling eyes that she had indeed been hurt by their words. He settled for patting her on the head, then felt stupid for doing it.

Ella was a little surprised: He must have wanted to comfort her. The sweetness of the action quickly overtook her, and before she knew what she was doing , she had wrapped her arms around his skinny yet muscular waist in a tight hug.

He was caught by surprise, and for a moment stood dumb, not knowing what to do. His arms sort of hovered in the air near her for a second, before he realized what he was supposed to do, and wrapped his arms around her small frame. He felt a sudden surge of warmth as he held her, and he was a little terrified that she could hear how fast his heart was beating. At least she couldn't see him blushing. "You're…uh…welcome, Ella." He said, even softer than before.

After a long, lovely moment, she let go, and so did he. She tucked her hair behind her ear nervously as both of them tried to think of something to say.

"Oh!" Kyoya said. "I recieved the cosplay package this morning. The event will probably be this afternoon."

"Oh, that's great!" she said with a smile.

"You can drop by if you'd like."

"I wouldn't miss it." She smiled.

"If it goes over well, Tamaki wanted to…and, well, I wanted to…to ask you if you'd like to come on as our permanent cosplay organizer." He pulled at his collar a bit. Why did he feel hot?

Her whole face lit up, making him smile as well. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed.

He grinned back. "Great." He looked at his watch with regret. "Well…I suppose I'll see you in English then."

She turned a little sadly to go. "Bye, Kyoya." She smiled over her shoulder as she turned to go.

Kyoya stood and watched her walk away for a moment, noticing the sway of her golden hair as she went. He was almost hypnotized. He finally managed to shake himself out of it and turn to go. He looked over his shoulder one last time though…and he blushed to find that she was looking too. She giggled as she quickly turned her head back, and he did the same.

He wore a smile for the entire walk to his next class.

**Heeheehee okay there:) I'm losing my voice...thank goodness that has nothing to do with typing! Hugs and kisses! My house smells like Christmas. Uhhh...that's all folks! Not of the story. There's plenty more story. See you...uh...next weekend, probably...bye!**

**~FeatherSong**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm baaaaack! Ugh. I was so sick this week. Of course, the week with the most performances, everybody in the group gets the same virus. All better now though! And good news! Winter break! IE more chapters! I mean, at some point I should probably work on District Chorus music...which I haven't touched...eventually...but I like doing this better:) Sorry, I would have written this two days ago, but I read Perks of Being a Wallflower and it messed with my mindset a lot, and I had to read hours of twitter updates to feel like I could think straight again. Great book, I seriously reccomend it. But I digress.**

**I think this chapter is a fairly even split. Character wise, I mean. And it actually contains a plot point...woohoo accomplishment! Here you go!**

Tamaki strolled into class humming to himself, in a generally tuneful mood. Who had he gotten to see this morning, but Haruhi! She was walking to school, he could tell she'd be late, so he had the driver pull over and pick her up. She wasn't even bitter about "these damn rich people," and she gave him a peck on the lips as she got in…_sigh_…oh and did he have news to share with Kyoya…

Kyoya, who was sitting in his seat with a smile plastered to his face. Tamaki grinned bigger than ever. "My, Kyoya, you're in such a great mood this morning!" he said gleefully as he took his seat.

Kyoya rolled his eyes, but his smile remained. "As are you."

Tamaki then recounted the events of that morning, and Kyoya's smile widened a bit. It really was about time.

"…and she told me the most fantastic thing, and I think you'll be happy to hear this too!" he paused dramatically, waiting for a response. Kyoya quirked his eyebrow. Apparently that wasn't enough of a response.

"Well?"

That was enough. "A friend of her father's got tickets to this concert for a new up-and-coming pop singer, she's supposedly going to be very popular. And he would know: He's a radio DJ. That's how he got the tickets. Anyway, they were leftover from a contest, and so he gave them to her dad to give to her, and she said she thought it would be a great idea for all of us to go."

"Well, I don't really know if I'm enthralled by that news, I suppose it would be nice."

"She has eight tickets."

"But there are only seven…" his eyebrows rose as he realized what Tamaki was implying. "Oh."

"You could ask her to come with us, we'd all love to have her, and it could be like an unofficial date!"

Kyoya gulped. His face felt hot. "Alright, thank you, Tamaki. I'll ask her."

He squealed. "Oh this is just going to be so great! Imagine, our little Kyoya with a girlfriend!"

"Let's not get carried away, Tamaki."

_Meanwhile…_

"Spill." Not even a greeting: All Ella got from her new friend upon sitting across from her at the table was a command. She quirked an eyebrow at her, confused.

"Good morning to you too, Terri. Spill what?"

"Oh don't play dumb!" the dirty blond said as she elbowed her. "You sat with Kyoya yesterday! Nobody sits with Kyoya! Then you get asked to stay after?! What is the deal?! Spill!"

Ella fought to suppress her smile as she replied. "I'm sorry, aren't we supposed to be speaking in Japanese?"

Terri rolled her eyes. "The bell didn't ring yet. C'mon, I'm _dying_ to know!"

Ella sighed: She didn't understand why this was such a big deal, but at the same time she did. She compared the Host Club in her head to a more sophisticated version of Magic Mike, just without the drugs and the stripping. Naturally everybody wanted to know their business. Still, she felt the need to ask. "Why is this such a big deal?"

Terri sighed in exasperation. "Be_cause_, these boys are, like, the highest priority in the school. They work their hardest never to show any favor to any one girl, and then here you are seeming to get favor from the least social of them all!"

"Huh?"

"They call Kyoya Ootori "The Shadow King," 'cause he just stands in the shadows and writes on his clipboard. He doesn't really take guests, and he certainly doesn't sit and talk to them like he did with you yesterday. He's dark and mysterious and only ever does things as a business gain or other venture. Nobody really knows much about him personally."

"Oh. That's funny. He's really nice to me. I'm pretty sure we're friends. He calls me Ella, not Flynn, and he said I could call him Kyoya all the time."

"I'm not sure how much merit there is to that, most of the guys in the host club get called by their first name…" Her eyes widened. "But wait, he calls you Ella, not 'Miss Flynn'?! That _is_ something."

Ella grinned. "We talked for a really long time yesterday, I helped him organize some cosplay for the club, and he said if it went well today they wanted to take me on permanently."

Terri's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. Is that what they asked you to stay for?"

"Well, no, they just—."

At that moment her voice was drowned out by the bell and the teacher stood at her desk.

"Today," she said in Japanese. "We will be following this sheet," she held up a sheet. "And having conversations along these lines. Please take one and pass it around. If you have any questions please ask. I will be at my desk." Then just as she did yesterday, the teacher sat at the desk and picked up her novel. Something told Ella this wasn't actually considered a very serious class.

She laughed when she took a sheet. These were the same questions she'd had to ask Kyoya yesterday, just in Japanese instead of English.

Terri regarded the paper, looking bored. "No offense, but I don't really care what your favorite color is. How about our conversation is about what happened yesterday." She switched to Japanese: "Continue."

Ella chuckled. "They just wanted to meet me, being Kyoya's first official guest." She said in Japanese. "They were all really nice."

Terri's eyes widened. "You're kidding. Lucky! I'm so jealous, you got to meet them all! At once! What was it like?"

Ella giggled as she began to recount the events of yesterday as her friend sat enthralled. Really, she just couldn't understand what the big deal was.

Kyoya drummed on his English desk impatienty, anxiously, and nervously, waiting for Ella to get there, dreading her arrival but eagerly anticipating it at the same time. He desperately wished for something to occupy his mind, anything other than the matter at hand. He wished he had had that cup of coffee this morning: This was too many emotions for one person to handle without caffeine in his system.

How was he supposed to go about asking her? He didn't want to make it too obvious that he wanted a date, but he didn't want to sound too platonic either, because he still wanted her to know that he was interested in her. Where was the line?!

He heard her high, girly giggle. "Are you alright? You look a little frazzled."

He looked up at her as she sat down next to him. "Fine." He lied. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Host Club stuff?"

He decided to go with it. "Yes. Indulging Honey's sweet tooth is, as usual, doing a number on our budget. We're going to have to come up with some kind of new seller to get more revenue in." Yes. Good. Business. Logic. That was calming.

"Yeah, how exactly do you guys get all the money anyway?"

"Well, our base revenue is the fee we pay for visiting hours. Cosplay days cost a bit extra. That was enough to sustain the club at first, but as things got more elaborate we started to need other sources of income, so I came up with a few things, little photo collections and such that generate a good amount of buzz among our more "die-hard" fans. Tamaki also had the idea of hosting parties every now and then, although with all that goes into said parties they don't really make as much money as you'd expect. A couple of semesters ago we took a trip to the beach…but after Haruhi got into a scuffle with some hoodlums that showed up, we had to send everyone home, so it really caused more trouble than it was worth. We also sometimes have auctions, although we haven't had one in a while."

"Wow. That sounds like an awful lot to organize."

Kyoya rubbed a finger to his temple. "It is." As his head became filled with the burdens of finance management, the question that had caused him his original tension had gone out of his mind. "We're supposed to have this manager, Renge, but she really only shows up when she feels like it, and it usually only makes things more complicated."

She placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, making him open his eyes and look at her. It surprised him how comforting the gesture itself was. "Maybe I could help with those things too." She said cheerily.

He smiled back warmly. "Well, that would certainly be better, it would give me less to stress about.

She smiled back at him. It occurred to him that the teacher was starting the class, but all he could do was look at her sweet face and smile back. She only handing out some word game for them to play, something he had played in his last English class, so he already knew how.

Ella apparently didn't. She looked down in confusion. "What's this?"

Her confused face was so cute. He kept smiling as he explained to her. "It's like a memory game. For vocabulary words. You have to match the cards as you flip them over, and remember where they are.

She laughed. "This will probably be backwards learning for me: I know all the English words, but not the Japanese."

He laughed too. "I'll help the best I can."

They went for the rest of class like that, playing the game and laughing and having a good time, falling for each other more and more every second.

Of course, by the time class was over, Kyoya still hadn't asked her.

"Well?" Tamaki asked imploringly as Kyoya sat across from him at lunch with nothing but a bowl of soup.

"Well what?" he said, looking into the bowl.

"Well, is she coming?"

"Oh. I didn't ask."

"What?! Why not?!" Tamaki seemed far too upset by this.

"I didn't get around to it? It didn't come up?"

"Then you bring it up, silly! Aww, I think somebody's nervous!" He grinned. Kyoya hated that grin. He thinks he's so smart. Just because he was right…

"Excuse me for not pushing matters like some people." He retorted.

Tamaki didn't let it bother him. "If pushing matters got me a girlfriend, I have no objections!"

Kyoya growled and took a bite of his soup.

"Is that all you're eating?" Tamaki asked, somewhat concerned.

"Not hungry." Kyoya said, taking another bite.

"Awww, see, you're falling in love, that's another symptom!"

Kyoya rolled his eyes and kept eating, not dignifying that with a response.

"Is she coming to the club today?"

Kyoya nodded. "We're doing the cosplay today. The costumes are already there."

Tamaki looked confused "We're doing a cosplay today? What cosplay?"

"The one she organized? Popular sports in America. I think. Ask the twins."

Tamaki laughed out loud.

"Ha ha, yes yes, very funny, American, I'm aware."

"Well what is everybody?"

Kyoya began pulling out his bag. "You'll have to wait and find out. I have an economics test to study for."

"Oh boo, you're no fun."

Kyoya didn't answer, so Tamaki went off into his la-la land, and that was pretty much the state of things for the rest of lunch. When the bell rang, Kyoya immediately rose to leave.

"Don't forget, Kyoya," Tamaki called after him. "You WILL ask at the club today."

Kyoya waved his hand behind his head in nonchalant response, even though his forehead began beading with sweat at the thought. He was just glad Tamaki couldn't see.

Ella was glad when she finally got to the choir room last period. Her other classes were boring, boring, boring, and dragged on and on that day. Of course, the moment she walked into the room, she was ambushed.

"Why didn't you tell me this morning?!"

"Ella, this is huge!"

"Mega huge!"

"Terri, Mizune, please, slow down! Believe it or not, I can't read your minds!"

Terri grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her very intensely. "Kyoya coming to your rescue? Twice?!"

"Ella, it's all over the school, everybody knows, at least ten people saw it." Mizune chimed in.

"He was being a good friend, why is it such a big thing?" Ella was taken aback, although the memory had her smiling on the inside.

"Because on principle Kyoya does not have friends!" Terri said, exasperated.

"And even with the ones he has he's not that kind." Mizune added.

Terri broke into a grin. "I think he has a crush on you."

Mizune smiled as well. "Me too!"

"Do you like him?" Terri asked with that intense gaze of hers that you just couldn't break away from. Coupled with Mizune's innocent, imploring eyes, she couldn't lie.

"Uhm…well…kinda…yeah…" Terri raised an eyebrow, and Ella sighed, defeated, and looked down. "A lot…"

Both girls giggled excitedly. "Oh, that's so cute!" Mizune squealed. She turned to Terri. "Can you imagine if they went out?"

"It would be adorable." Terri agreed.

Ella just blushed. "Guys, c'mon…he doesn't like me…he's just really nice…"

"He's NOT really nice. It's you." Terri assured her, Mizune nodding her vehement agreement.

Before Terri could protest again, the choral director stepped to the front of the room. "All right, all right, folks." He said with a smile. "Let's settle down and take our seats, we all know what day it is!"

There was an excited murmur as all students swarmed to find seats with friends. "What's today?" Ella asked.

"Friday." Mizune said with a smile. "That means open mic. You should try it!"

"Yeah, newbie, I wanna hear what you sound like on your own, didn't you get into this school partially on merit for your voice?"

Ella nodded modestly. "I'll think about it."

"All right, who's first?"

A girl in the front row stood up most abruptly, with a very regal air.

"Kohjo-kun, the floor is yours." The teacher said, stepping aside.

When the girl turned around Ella recognized her as the girl Yoko, from earlier.

Yoko's eyes narrowed, and she looked directly up at Ella as she handed the teacher some sheet music. It was a challenge, she could tell. So _that's_ why she was so jealous of her. She sang too. Well, Ella had had enough of her bullying.

"Yoko was one of the girls making fun of you?" Mizune whispered.

Ella nodded. "I'm definitely singing."

Terri grinned and patted her shoulder. "Atta girl."

Kyoya strolled down the empty hall, clipboard in hand. His economics test had been easy, so he'd finished early. Not that that was unusual. He was lost in the numbers in his own head, thinking over plans and budgets and trying to avoid thinking of Ella for now, when he walked past the choir room and heard one of the loveliest sounds he had ever heard.

It was a familiar song: Think of Me from The Phantom of the Opera. (His sister was very into Broadway music, and she had been playing that CD nonstop for as long as he could remember. He had to admit, he had taken to liking it quite a bit.) The voice singing it, however, had be the best he had heard in quite a while. It was high and sweet, with less vibrato than one would expect. It was pure. He craned his neck to see who it was…and instantly his heart started beating double time.

Of course it was Ella.

Of course the sweetest voice he'd ever heard would match with the sweetest girl he'd ever met. He definitely felt himself falling for her harder than ever before. He was a sucker for a pretty voice: His sister had one, and the few vague memories he had of his mother included many of her singing to him…in a voice very similar to the one he was hearing now. He couldn't help but linger in the hallway for the rest of the song, in a trance. When it was over, he walked away quickly, hoping nobody had noticed him standing there for so long. He felt like he was floating.

_Meanwhile…_

"Ella, that was beautiful!" Mizune said as Ella resumed her seat, the thunderous applause dying down.

"Yeah, that'll show the bitch." Terri said proudly, indicating a pouting Yoko in the front row.

Ella smiled absently, nodding. "Thanks guys." Her mind was no longer with them. She couldn't stop thinking about the tall figure she saw out of the corner of her eye while she was singing…and the glint she thought she saw off its glasses as it hurried away after she'd finished.

"_No…"_ she thought _"It couldn't be…"_

She hoped it was.

**Weeeeeeeeeee reviews are still my favorites! I sit there and like show people: "look they like me, they really like me!" And I text my boyfriend and tell him how many follows and favorites I have like he knows what I'm talking about (he doesn't)...hehee it's a little sad but I know you guys who write appreciate the feeling. I love you alllllllllllll:D I'll update after Christmas! A merry one to all of you!**

**~FeatherSong**


	8. Chapter 8

**Day after Christmas, I'm back, as promised! GUESS WHAT I GOT. OURAN ON DVD. WHOLE SEASON. PLUS BLOOPERS. OYEAH! Aaaand that is all. Heeeere we go!**

Being the first one to the Host Club was usually something Kyoya found very relaxing, but not today. Today his head was swimming with Ella, Ella, Ella: He could no longer push her to the back of his mind by willpower alone. He needed a distraction.

He looked to the corner and saw the box of cosplay, just as he had left it this morning. Bingo: Distraction. He opened the box and laid out all the costumes, chuckling a bit at all the padding Mori and Tamaki would need. He then picked up his own costume and went into the closet to change.

He was going to have to ask her. How would he do it? "_Hey, wanna go to a concert with me?" _Nope. Date-like. This wasn't a date. "_Wanna come hang out with the host club tonight?_" Nope, too disinterested. "_Do you like music?"_ Does anyone not like music? Stupid. "_I think you're perfect, would you like to hang out?" _That one was purely to make him laugh.

He looked in the mirror. Black pants, striped shirt, whistle around his neck. He had to admit, he did look the part: Ella did a good job.

He stepped out of the closet to find Haruhi holding up the soccer uniform. She looked up at him. "Oh, hello Kyoya-senpai. This one's my size, I'm assuming it's mine?"

Kyoya nodded.

"Alright, thanks Senpai." And she walked into the closet he had just come out of, mumbling something about not knowing how shin guards worked.

At that moment Tamaki burst into the room. "Where is my lovely Haruhi?" he yelled, ecstatically and overdramatically.

"I'm in here, Tamaki-senpai, and what did we say last night about pet names?" she said, sounding mildly annoyed but still amused.

"Aww…" he looked up again as he began removing his jacket and tie. "Wait, what did we say about calling me senpai?"

There was a pause. "Sorry, force of habit, Tamaki."

He beamed at this as he continued removing his clothes.

"You know we have another closet." Kyoya said. "I have no desire to see you in your underwear."

"This is too much equipment to carry in to the closet, Kyoya." Tamaki said, beginning to put on the piles of padding that came with the costume. Kyoya simply rolled his eyes and walked away, writing on his clipboard as he went. "Incidentally, Kyoya, what happened to your little black notebook?"

Kyoya shrugged. "It ran out of pages. I need a new one."

"Need a new what?" Kyoya's eyes widened slightly as he turned to see Ella coming through the door.

"Notebook." Tamaki answered. He remembered as she turned to him what he was—or, rather, wasn't—wearing.

"Oh, HEL-lo." Ella said, turning away immediately as she saw Tamaki's state, blushing mildly. Kyoya couldn't help but smile. Her blush was cute.

"Tamaki, as I said, we HAVE another closet."

"Sorry." He said sheepishly, pulling on his pants.

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "You can open your eyes now, Ella, sorry about the idiot."

She giggled. "That's alright, I know how quickchanges are, no big deal."

Her head turned as the door opened and Honey and Mori walked in, closely followed by Hikaru and Kouru.

"Ellie-chan!" Honey cried, running and jumping into her arms.

"Oh!" laughed a very surprised Ella. "Hello to you too, Honey, do you feel better today?"

He nodded animatedly as she set him down. "Mmhm. Did you come to play with us?"

She laughed. "Well, sort of. I just thought I might be needed, and as Kyoya told me this cosplay will decide my fate as to whether or not I can join you, I wanna make sure I do an extra good job." Because she really did want to join the club. Was it because of Kyoya? Yes. Mostly. But she did like the rest of them too, and the club seemed fun. And Kyoya seemed like he needed help with these guys.

Kyoya thought her commitment was adorable, and that was pretty much all he was thinking.

The twins and Mori had gone and changed and come back, and Tamaki was now fully dressed, but Ella didn't seem satisfied. "The room…do we have to have it here? I can't see a bunch of jocks sipping tea in a pink room…" she giggled. "At least, not without laughing."

"That's a great idea!" said Tamaki. Let's have a sports day, put the costumes to use, I bet the girls would love running around playing, and those who didn't want to could sit and have a picnic on the sidelines, we'll just pack up all the food and move it to one of the gym fields!"

"We can't do that today, how will the girls know?" Kyoya said.

"We'll leave a note on the door." Ella said simply.

"They won't want to dirty their uniforms either." He didn't want to contradict her, but he had to be realistic.

She thought for a moment. "Have the note tell them to use the room to change into their gym clothes, leave it unlocked?"

Kyoya looked up, thinking of something. "I'll do you one better, we have leftover tee shirts and shorts for the club in the closet from a sale last year, they can have those. I was afraid we'd have to throw them away, at least now they'll get some use."

Ella grinned. "Perfect!" she walked over to the aforementioned closet, putting her hand on the handle to open the door. "This one, right?"

Tamaki turned, eyes wide, a second too late, followed by Kyoya. "NO, WAIT, DON'T-" They said together.

They were too late. Ella had opened the door on Haruhi, who was wearing the soccer shorts and her pink tank top, sitting on the ground trying to put on her shin guards. Ella was speechless.

Haruhi, however, didn't look up. "Senpai, could you give me a hand with-" Then she looked up. "Oh. Uh…hi." He-or...she said.

"Oh…I, um…sorry, Haruhi…I didn't…um…Kyoya?" she looked to him, completely at a loss for words.

"Well the cat's out of the bag now." Said the twins.

Kyoya sighed. "I'm sorry, Ella. Haruhi is…well, she's incognito. It's difficult to explain."

He led her to a table and sat her down, and explained the whole thing about Haruhi from the beginning, from the broken vase to the shock everyone received when they figured it out, to Tamaki doing pretty much exactly what Ella had just done.

"It's really no big deal." Haruhi said with a laugh. "It's kinda weird having another girl know, but I think I'll get used to it."

"Hey, now that Ellie-chan knows our secret, she HAS to be one of us, right Tama-chan?"

Tamaki nodded. "Yes, that's right, but I'm afraid I'm not the judge here, she would be working in Kyoya's department. That means it's up to him."

Honey turned to Kyoya, with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster. "Kyo-chan? Can we keep her? Pweeease?"

Kyoya chuckled and turned to Ella. "Miss Ella Flynn, the Ouran Host Club would be glad to have you." He smiled at her genuinely.

Ella grinned back and pulled Kyoya into a hug. "Thanks Kyoya!" to the entire club's surprise, he hugged her back without hesitation.

"Thank you in advance for all your help, Ella." He said as they pulled apart.

"Yaaaaaaay!" Honey rejoiced. "Now you can have cake with me all the time, Ellie-chan!"

She giggled. "Of course, Honey." The boy grinned back up at her. She then looked back at the rest of the club. "So wait, there's been a girl among you for so long. I have to ask, is there any romantic tension in here?" she grinned a bit mischeviously.

The twins looked at each other even more mischeviously. "Well…" they began.

"As a matter of fact there is!" Tamaki exclaimed, cutting them off and shocking them.

"Boss?" said Kaouru.

"Oh brother…" Haruhi mumbled. She knew where this was going.

"I have an announcement to make!" Tamaki continued. "Last night, Haruhi and I became an official, though publicly secret, couple!" he beamed wide as he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to him.

"You don't have to make all that fuss about it, Tamaki." Haruhi rolled her eyes.

Kyoya was smirking. Mori's eyebrows were as high as they would go. Hikaru looked a bit as though he had been slapped, and Kaouru was eyeing his brother worriedly. Honey was ecstatic.

"Oh my gosh, guys, that's great! Tama-chan finally told Haru-chan how much he likes her! And she likes him back! It's like a fairy tale! Did you guys kiss like in a fairy tale?" his eyes went wide. "Will you kiss now?!"

"Mitskuni. That's prying." Mori gently scolded.

Haruhi sighed. She couldn't disappoint Honey-senpai, he was like a little brother to her. "No, it's fine." She turned to Tamaki. "Come here, you idiot." She said with a small smile, before pulling him in and kissing him right on the lips.

"Yaaaaaaay! Tama-chan and Haru-chan, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" he chanted happily. The rest of the club wore big smiles, even Hikaru.

"Wow, um, congratulations!" Ella said.

Tamaki was too shocked and pleased to answer. Haruhi answered for him. "Thanks."

Kyoya was still smiling. "Well, this has all been fun, but I think we had better set out the shirts, leave that note, and get going. We're going to need time to set up."

_Later…_

They were running back and forth all over the field, playing some form of the game soccer, although Kyoya wasn't really sure if all players knew the rules. _"If I had known I would actually have to referee…"_

They had given up on American football after nobody could correctly explain the rules. There was a smaller contingent of girls playing a very laid back game of tee ball with Honey and Mori (because there was nowhere to play hockey), and a slightly larger and more athletic group playing basketball with the twins. Surprisingly, all of the girls were playing something.

Until that moment, that is. Ella came over laughing, her hair bouncing in its high ponytail. She looked different in shorts and a tee shirt. But certainly not bad-different. The pink of the shirt made the pink undertones of her skin even more prononunced, giving her a glow he had never seen before. Though her cheeks could just be flushed from running. She was truly beautiful.

She laughed as she jogged up to him. "I need a break." She said, catching her breath. "Sports aren't exactly my thing."

Kyoya chuckled as well. "Mine either."

Ella checked her watch. He had never noticed it before. It featured a redheaded cartoon mermaid and a yellow fish with blue fins. He smiled. How whimsical. How very…Ella. "Almost time to go, isn't it?" she said.

He looked at his watch. "Yes, you're right." Damn it. She was right. Well…now or never.

"Ella…I was wondering…" he spent too long trying to figure out how to proceed. She looked up at him with those big blue eyes.

"Yes?"

He gulped and continued. "I was wondering…well, see, Haruhi and Tamaki have these tickets, and…and the whole club is going…" he sighed.

Ella was smiling. This was so cute. Was he trying to ask her out? "Start over, Kyoya." She said good naturedly.

He sighed and did as she told him. "We have an extra ticket to a concert tonight, would you like to go?"

Her expression changed. "Tonight?" she looked down. "I'm sorry, I can't…I have a—a…well I can't."

At that moment her phone rang. "Yeah mom?...Okay…yeah I know okay coming." She looked up at him with regret.

"I'm really sorry, Kyoya, I have to go, I'll see you Monday!" and with that she was gone. She had seemed to be in a hurry.

"_No doubt because I made her feel awkward. You remember what Fuyumi said, she was vague about her excuse. She's not interested. That's it. Done. This…this must be what heartbreak feels like."_

Tamaki, of course, chose that moment to come jogging over to him, as usual way too happy. "Well, Kyoya, I think today went splendidly!"

"Peachy." He said darkly.

"Everyone took the news rather well, and this cosplay went over very well! I believe we found ourselves a keeper!"

"Yeah. Sure."

Tamaki then actually looked at Kyoya. "Kyoya, are you alright?"

He looked at him. Tamaki was shocked to see that his eyes were red, as though he were trying to hold back tears.

"She said no."

**OooOoOoOOOOOoooooooooohh duhn DUHN _DUHNNNN_ cliffhanger! I'm sorry to do this to you guys. I hate these. But I couldn't resist. I SUPER PINKY PROMISE I'll update soon. Love ya!**

**~FeatherSong**


	9. Chapter 9

**I SAW LES MIS THE MOVIE TODAY AND IT WAS SOOOO GOOD. Sorry. Had to get that out of the way. Go see it if you can. Now, about the story: No Ella POV at all today, I actually laughed when I realized her name may only be in this once, total...we're drawing to a close, folks, if you can believe it. Anyway, I promised a quick update and here it is: (Just now went back and proofread, sorry if you read the before shot, it was confusing.) Anyway enjoy! Here you go!**

Kyoya slammed the door and threw his bag on a chair. It was his intention to go straight up to his room. Naturally, though, nothing was going as he planned today.

"Hello, Kyoya-kun, how was school today?" his sister's cheery voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

"Fine." He monotoned. He just wanted to make it up to his room.

"…Diiid she say yes?" Fuyumi pushed.

Kyoya stopped short, his shoulders hunched. "No." he said after a pause.

"Oh." She frowned. "You didn't ask her then?"

He suppressed a growl. "No. I asked her."

"I'm confused…"

This time he actually growled, and turned quickly to look at her, his eyes blazing. "I asked her and she said no, Fuyumi, she wasn't interested! What are you doing here anyway, don't you have your own children to take care of!?" He turned around and ran up the stairs before she could answer.

Fuyumi had begun to feel hurt by his words, until she realized that when he turned around, his eyes were red. Like he was trying not to cry. Fuyumi had only seen him on the brink of tears once before, and she had made the mistake of trying to comfort him then. No, much as she wanted to, he needed to be left alone.

Kyoya slammed the door to his room shut even harder than he slammed the front door. He wasted no time in flopping facedown on his bed and letting go of the tears he had been holding in for half an hour. He didn't sob of course, the tears flowed silently from his eyes, spattering his glasses until he tossed them aside.

He felt so weak. The last time he cried was when his mother left, and he vowed then never to cry again. Now he had broken that vow, and over what? Some stupid girl? It wasn't like he hadn't liked other girls before: He had felt attraction towards one or two girls before in his life, but he knew his father wouldn't have approved, either that or a breakup would have caused scandal. Anyway, he had been able to push back those feelings. But now, when the relationship would be almost certainly disapproved of and he knew nothing of her background whatsoever, now he found it impossible to keep from falling for her.

"_Well," _he thought, laughing darkly with self-loathing. _"Then I guess it's a good thing she said no, isn't it? Wouldn't want to do anything that 'daddy' would disapprove of."_

This thought set him laughing hysterically, a dark, devilish, humorless laugh, that faded eventually into soundless sobs. When he realized that he was still crying he became so frustrated that he felt the need to punch his pillows repeatedly. He was clearly a mess.

Thankfully, he eventually wore himself out, and fell into a fitful, exhausted doze.

Fuyumi was reading in the living room when there was a knock at the door. She looked at her watch. 6:04? "Who could that be?" she asked herself.

When she opened the door, there was the host club.

"Good evening, Fuyumi." Tamaki bowed slightly, followed by the others. "We're here to pick up Kyoya, we're going to the concert."

She grimaced. "Gee guys, I dunno, Kyoya wasn't in a very good mood when he got home…"

Tamaki frowned, as did the rest of the club. He had informed them of Kyoya's…delicate state. "Yes, we're aware, but we all agree that Kyoya needs to be in the company of his friends tonight."

"Yeah, Kyo-chan needs cheering up!" Honey chimed in.

"Boys' night out." Agreed Mori.

Fuyumi was unsure, but she let them in anyway. "Well…alright…he's in his room…good luck."

Tamaki nodded as he went up the stairs. "Thank you."

Kyoya was awoken by a light rap at his door. He rubbed his eyes. When had he fallen asleep? What time was it? 6:05? Had he been asleep for over two hours? He certainly didn't feel rested…

His thoughts were interrupted by another, slightly louder knock and Tamaki's voice. "Kyoya?"

He groaned. "What do you want?"

Tamaki let himself in. "Stay out here a minute, guys." He whispered, soft enough that Kyoya couldn't hear. They nodded their understanding before he turned around to find Kyoya looking at him with annoyed, half-lidded eyes. "Why are you still wearing your uniform?" he laughed. "We've got a concert to go to, now come on, get dressed."

Kyoya couldn't believe him. "You don't seriously think I'm still going to that concert, Tamaki."

"Of course you are, this is a Host Club outing, we can't have our Vice President missing."

"No."

"Kyoya."

Kyoya looked up at his friend. He would NOT cry again. He would not. "I am not going to that concert and sitting next to an empty seat, Tamaki."

"But-"

"Tamaki. She said no. Fuyumi told me this morning that a vague excuse means she's not interested. I asked. She gave me a vague excuse. She's. Not. Interested."

"Wait a minute, Senpai." Haruhi walked into the room. "That's not necessarily always true, I'm sure your sister only meant that as a general statement. I really do think she likes you."

Kyoya ignored her. He refused to let himself get his hopes up again. He wouldn't start this whole process over. No.

"And she seemed in kind of a hurry when she left, maybe she really did have something to do tonight."

He still didn't answer. Tamaki looked at Haruhi desperately.

Haruhi was getting annoyed. "Listen, Kyoya-senpai, moping isn't going to get you anywhere, you need to get out. Yeah you're hurt, but sitting in your room sulking isn't going to help you. And if you were acting anything like yourself you'd be wondering why it was she said no, instead of just assuming she didn't like you."

At first Haruhi's brutality angered Kyoya, but the last part made him curious. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, yesterday weren't you all curious about what she was being so mysterious about, why she moved here and stuff? To me this just seems like another piece of the puzzle."

"Huh." Kyoya, against his better judgment, felt himself beginning to hope again, though he tried his best to keep it suppressed. "I hadn't thought of it l like that…" he smiled at her. "That's a rather intriguing notion, in its own way."

She smiled back. "That's the spirit."

The rest of the club took the shift in mood as their cue to enter the room. The twins took it upon themselves to pick out an outfit: Hikaru opened his closet and Kaouru his drawers.

"We don't have time for you to pick out an outfit for yourself." Said Hikaru.

Kaouru held up a pair of jeans. "How about these?"

Hikaru shook his head and held up a black and white striped v-neck. "Does he have black ones?"

Kaouru looked for another second. "Uhh…yeah here."

The two simultaneously threw the clothes at him. Hikaru had added a leather jacket. "Here, put these on." They said.

Kyoya held up the jacket. "I haven't worn this in ages…"

"Just wear it, Kyo-chan, you'll look great!" Honey encouraged

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "Fine. Go downstairs, I'll be down in a minute."

Honey was the last one to leave the room. Before he shut the door, he turned and looked earnestly at Kyoya with his big brown eyes. "It's gonna be okay, Kyo-chan. You'll see."

Kyoya smiled to himself as he began changing. He actually appreciated Honey's attempt at comfort. It was…sweet.

He came downstairs and was greeted with cries of adoration, perhaps a little overdramatic.

"Please, don't patronize me, let's just go to this concert like we normally would."

Tamaki opened the door. "After you, monsieur!" he patronized. Kyoya gave him a look, but he just grinned. He and Haruhi were the last ones out.

"Do you really think he'll be alright, S—Tamaki?" she asked.

He looked ahead of him pensively. "Kyoya is an extremely resilient person. You'd be surprised by what he's been through, and he's obviously used to having pressure put on him. And after having what was no doubt an emotional breakdown, he'll be even more determined to stay strong with himself." He turned to her with affectionate eyes. "And I really do think what you said to him helped. And you may have been right."

"Yeah, it just seemed out of character. She's clearly interested in him, but she's also definitely hiding something." She looked up at him and realized he was still gazing at her. "What?" she said with a smile.

He smiled back dreamily. "Oh, nothing, Haruhi. You just look very pretty with your hair in a headband like that, and…" he looked at her closer. "Are you wearing makeup?" he asked incredulously.

She blushed. "Yeah…just thought I'd try it out, and I figured you'd like it…"

He grinned sunnily. "Oh, you're so cute, Haruhi, you look absolutely beautiful!" He picked her up in a hug and spun her around.

"Thanks, Tamaki, that means a lot, but I think for Kyoya's sake we'd better keep the romance down for tonight."

Tamaki looked in Kyoya's direction. He was looking at Honey as he animatedly told some kind of story, though Tamaki wasn't sure he was actually listening. He sighed. "You're right. But…while he's not paying attention..."

Haruhi chuckled and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "You really are an idiot, Tamaki."

He chose to ignore her quip and simply followed her as she walked away with a goofy grin on his face. "Alright, let's all get into the car, let's go! We want to get there before it gets too crowded."

The limo had plenty of space for everyone, though Tamaki pulled Haruhi just a little bit closer to him when they drove, and Honey was constantly climbing all over everyone, mostly Mori.

"Mitskuni. Stay still. We're in a car."

"Aww, but Takashi I'm too excited!"

"Sit."

"Aww…okay."

Hikaru and Kaouru were discussing the artist they were going to see.

"This is supposed to be her debut concert here in Japan."

"Yeah, I hear she was kind of big in America but once Kosagu Oshimagi heard her music he snatched her up immediately."

"Wasn't it that she used to write all in English, but then she learned Japanese and slowly started integrating?"

"Yeah, that's right, I'm glad we all know at least basic English so we'll be able to understand her."

"It's too bad she's not well known enough for it to be a big deal for us to get backstage, we probably could."

"Hey yeah, Kyoya, is this one of the concert halls your family sponsors?"

Kaouru's voice pulled Kyoya out of his reverie: He was going back over everything Ella had said to him…pretty much ever…trying to figure out whether or not Haruhi was right. But all it was doing was confusing him and possibly deepening his depression. "Hmm?"

"Look at your ticket, is this one of your family's concert halls?"

Kyoya didn't need to look: he had already noticed. "Yes, it is."

"Yeah, it's like I said though," said Hikaru. "I don't think it's worth going to the trouble, she's not well known enough yet."

"Don't you think that's a little snobby?" said Haruhi.

"What do you mean?" the twins chorused.

Haruhi sighed, but Kyoya tuned her out. He didn't feel like listening to her give them another lecture on their ignorance. He looked at Hikaru and wondered if he seemed a little more callous than usual. It seemed so. He realized it was perhaps because Hikaru may silently be feeling the same thing he was: complete and utter heartbreak. After all, it was no secret—at least not to Kaouru or him—that Hikaru had feelings for Haruhi. They had both seen his expression earlier: he looked as though someone had hit him. Kyoya, to his surprise, felt extreme sympathy for the redheaded boy who was listening intently to Haruhi as she spoke to him, though his eyes clearly strained not to look down at where her knee was touching Tamaki's, or at Tamaki's face.

Clearly Tamaki was trying to be subtle about his feelings for Haruhi, most likely out of courtesy to Kyoya. He thought this was sweet, though unnecessary. He was still glad he was trying though: It would be better for Hikaru until he got used to the idea. Tamaki was not, however, capable of turning down the adoration in his eyes when he gazed at Haruhi.

Kyoya rubbed his forehead. He was not used to having this many feelings about himself, let alone feeling things for other people. He tried to avoid it as often as possible. Now it seemed he couldn't help it. He hoped this wasn't permanent. He needed an asprin. He pulled his wallet and popped one in his mouth: Thank goodness he always carried them with him. He had thought he'd been subtle, but when he looked up everyone was staring at him. "What?" he said.

"Kyo-chan, are you feeling alright?" Honey asked with concern.

"Yeah, Kyoya, I didn't realize you were in pain, do you want to go home?" Tamaki asked with just as much concern.

Kyoya sighed. "No, I'm fine. I'll stay for the concert, no point in going back now."

They were still staring.

"Look," he said, slightly more irritated. "It was just an asprin. It's been a long day, sometimes I get headaches. I'll be fine in five minutes, we're here now, can we please just go inside?"

"Alright…" said Tamaki.

Kyoya just didn't understand it. The entire time they were getting out of the car, standing in line, getting snacks, going through security, trying to get to their seats, everyone was staring at him out of the corners of their eyes, as though they were afraid he'd explode. _"These damn idiots."_ He thought, with perhaps a grain of affection, though mostly with annoyance.

They got to their seats, which were in the third row: Fairly decent for radio concert tickets. Kyoya had all but blocked the pain out of his mind when they all sat down…then he looked next to him at the empty seat, and before he could stop himself, he imagined Ella sitting there, just for a split second. Then she was gone, and suddenly the noise in the space was twice as loud, a roar making his head throb dully through his medication, and he felt once again the pain in his heart from where he'd been stabbed earlier. Maybe this was going to be too much…

Then he looked next to him, at Tamaki talking to a giggling Haruhi…and Hikaru sitting on her other side, chin in his hand, staring straight ahead of him.

No. He could do this.

**Waaaahhhh it's my bedtime. My choral group is singing at an art museum tomorrow, so I actually have to get some sleep:( I'm pretty sure the next chapter...will be the final one. DUHN DUHN DUHHHNNNN. :(/:) But I can't be totally sure cuz you know writing is unpredictable! Love ya! Good night! (I realize that will be completely out of context to those who read that during the day but oh well)**

**~FeatherSong**


	10. Chapter 10

**HERE IT IS:D**

The noise was so deafening it was easily blocked out, if that made any sense. It was as if all the voices in the place blended into one loud, constant white noise. Kyoya wished the concert would start already, so he could stop thinking about Ella already.

When he first met her, stopped Yoko and Yuri from sending her off in the wrong direction, he'd been doing it as a sort of revenge against Yoko, letting out pent-up angst at her behavior that he'd been holding in for so many years. He stayed to talk to her, and she seemed grateful…but did she seem attracted to him? He couldn't tell…moving on…

She sat next to him in English by her own free will. Was that still the grateful? Was it just because he was the only one she knew? No, she did say she considered them friends…. He went back through their conversations in that first class, and realized with slight surprise that he had been subconsciously flirting with her. But the question was, had she been flirting with him?

It was too hard to tell. Yes, she had been sweet, but she was always sweet. It could just be her natural demeanor. He, however, had managed to possibly make himself look crazy with his abrupt departure and constant drifting off. Great. Score one for the not-interested theory.

But…she did request to sit with him at the host club. But he couldn't help but wonder if Mizune and Teresa had explained the Host Club to her properly, and even if they had, if she was only picking him because she was nervous and she knew him. Then again…she did seem to be kind of flirting with him after she asked…maybe. He groaned inwardly. He really hadn't the foggiest idea what girl-flirting was like if it wasn't obvious.

Well, what about while she was sitting with him? Had she been flirting then? He certainly learned a lot about her, she told some very personal stories…one would only tell such stories to somebody they cared about, correct? Unless she was just a really open person…

And she did laugh more at the things she said than the rest of the club. Wasn't that a stereotypical sign that someone liked you? Or maybe they just shared a sense of humor…no, that wasn't likely. She was extremely giggly, though…

She HAD moved her seat to be closer to him when they were looking at that cosplay…but that was just so she could see…right? Maybe?

Wait. There was more than one point where he had looked at her for a few seconds too long, (She was just so beautiful and intriguing…no Kyoya, stop it, stop it.) but she hadn't showed any sign of being uncomfortable…

Okay, that may be score one for Haruhi's theory.

But still…when she refused his invitation, she had pretty much exhibited the exact signs Fuyumi had talked about that morning. She gave an extremely vague excuse, and she did look uncomfortable.

But wait…he had seen that face before. That face of discomfort was the same face she made whenever he touched on asking why she had moved here.

Then wait…could Haruhi be right?!

This was so confusing…

His introspection was interrupted when he heard the sound of a few drumbeats and an electric guitar intro. The crowed immediately stood and cheered. Kyoya sighed: He supposed it was only appropriate to follow suit.

Then the stage was covered in fake fog, with lights on it making it turn all colors of the rainbow, and they heard in slightly accented Japanese: "Good evening, people of Ouran!"

This was greeted with cheers from the crowd, though Mori only clapped and Kyoya refrained from noise for that moment.

"ARE YOU READY?!" The voice enthused. It was met with more cheers, and the smoke cleared to reveal a girl.

She looked to be about their age, though it was a little hard to tell. She had pink hair drawn up in high pigtails, and wore a black and white belted dress with a pink heart on the chest, and pink lace-up boots. Yes, she looked like a pop singer alright, now the question remained about her voice.

That question was answered when she opened up her mouth into the microphone at the end of the guitar intro, and the answer was clear. She had a powerful, strong, high belt voice, easily one of the biggest talents Kyoya had heard in a while. No wonder this label had snatched her up so quickly. She opened with a popular J-Pop cover, and that certainly got the crowd going. Kyoya himself liked the cover much better than the original.

She did a song of her own, also quite good, though all in English. Then she stepped up to the standing microphone. "Thank you guys for such a warm welcome!" she said in her accented Japanese. Her voice was a bit higher than one would expect after hearing her singing voice. "I'm so honored to be here, having fans is still a little weird for me." She laughed. That laugh…sounded familiar. "I am the Princess of Hearts, but you can call me Heart for short." She winked at the audience dramatically and giggled, causing a small ripple of laughter in response.

"And these are the Rose Shadows!" She gestured behind her at the pink and black clad band.

The audience cheered again: This time Kyoya joined in the clapping. He did indeed kind of like this artist.

The concert continued, she did more songs. Some were her own, but being new, she only had about twelve or so songs of her own, so she did a few covers of Japanese songs and a few covers of American songs.

"Kyoya, what do you think of her?" asked Tamaki.

He nodded approvingly. "She has a wide stylistic range and impressive vocal talent, not to mention an excellent stage presence, something frequently lacking in today's performers. I like her."

"Yeah," Haruhi agreed. "I like how she covers all different genres of music. And her vocal range is really impressive too."

"She's pretty, I like her hair!" Honey chimed in from the farthest chair over, where he was sitting on Mori's shoulders. Mori nodded his agreement.

"Nice voice." He added.

"Not to mention her fashion sense is impeccable." The twins said.

"Look at that dress, it matches her hair perfectly!" Kaouru praised.

"And I think those boots are from our mother's spring collection!" Hikaru added.

"I think it's splendid how the band members all match her!" Tamaki said. He took a sidelong glance at Kyoya, trying to gauge his mood by his expression. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but Tamaki never could tell. He was at least smiling

"Alright, guys." Came Heart's voice over the mic as the song ended. "I'm gonna slow it down for a minute now with a ballad by an artist from home called Pink." She smiled. "It's called Glitter in the Air. I hope you like it."

She then went over and sat at the grand piano which had really gone unnoticed until now. Her fingers glided across the keys in a transcending melody, beautiful and poignant. And then she opened her mouth, and out came a beautiful, soft, lower sound. It was lovely and different, and Kyoya was hypnotized.

In the middle of the song, one of her band members took over the piano for her seamlessly, and she stepped back up to the standing mic. It was right before a high belting part that displayed her voice perfectly: It wasn't flashy or showy, but it was beautiful.

At the moment she hit the high note, she flung her arms out, and something flew from her, sparkling off into the audience…and straight towards Kyoya.

It hit him in the chest, and then landed on the ground. He bent over to pick it up, then looked at it closely. It was a charm bracelet, with charms from different musicals and movies and other things he didn't recognize. There were several stars as well, and a pink heart. All of this happened in a split second, and he looked up at the singer at the moment she looked at him, and he managed to catch her eyes exactly for a second. They were wide, perhaps in shock, and they were the bluest of blues, and they sparkled a bit…

Wait.

No.

Yes?

No way.

But…

Hell no.

One of the charms on the bracelet was a small treble staff, with a double eighth note: the first on the first line of the staff, the second on the first space.

Those notes were E and F.

That could be a coincidence.

But…

No. This was impossible.

Still…he took one last look at the bracelet and put it in his jacket pocket…he'd go backstage after the show and give it to her himself…

Heart looked away from Kyoya and continued singing…was she blushing?

When she continued singing, after going and sitting back at the piano, her voice sounded even more delicate and emotional than before."

"_Have you ever wished for an endless night?_

_Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight?_

_Have you ever…held your breath…and asked yourself_

"_Will it ever get better than tonight?"_

_Tonight…"_

When it was finished, the chord was left hanging, and it seemed for a moment that the audience was suspended in time: Nobody moved, nobody spoke, no sounds were uttered.

Then the audience erupted in applause. People were standing on their chairs. Honey was waving his arms in the air. Then it was raining glitter from the top of the stage, and it was lovely.

"Thank you so much, everyone." Heart said, stepping back up to the microphone. "Have a wonderful night!" And with no further word she walked off the stage.

It was no ending to a concert like Kyoya had ever seen before, and yet it was just fitting, just perfect. Immediately a dull, approving roar rose in the audience. Kyoya pulled the bracelet out of his pocket and looked at it, then put it back.

"Tamaki, I'll be right back." He said over his shoulder, already going.

"Well, wait, Kyoya! Where are you going? Backstage? Great! We'll join you in a little while!" he was already gone. "Well at least he's distracted…" he said to himself.

Kyoya easily got past the security backstage just by flashing his ID and pointing to his name. They all nodded and stepped aside. He then came to the door with the star on it, and stopped before he knocked.

Well, this could be it…

He took a deep breath and knocked.

Her voice sounded from behind the door in English. Yes, it did sound famailiar…

"That you, Ricky? You can come in!"

He gulped again and opened the door, reminding himself not to jump to conclusions.

"It's not Ricky…" he said. Her shoulders seemed to stiffen: She had her back to him. "But I thought you'd want your bracelet back." He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up.

She took a moment to respond. "I…uh…Thank you." she said. She didn't turn around. She seemed nervous. Kyoya looked her up and down…the skin tone was right…the height was right…the shape of her body seemed right…the voice was definitely right…

He decided to take a shot…maybe play a game.

Oh yes. Now he felt more like himself.

"That was a very lovely concert, you know, I especially liked that last song…it was very moving."

"Oh, uh, thank you. Again." She giggled, then tried to suppress it.

"I was wondering if there was someone you were thinking of during the end of that song…it seemed very heartfelt…if you'll excuse the pun on your name." He couldn't believe his own gall…but he definitely felt more in his element. "Excuse me if that's too personal."

"No…it's fine…yes, there was someone…that I was thinking of…"

"Oh really?"

"Yes…he's…uh…from my school…"

Damn it. Ella just couldn't help herself, it was too poetic not to reveal her feelings like this. What were the odds?! Kyoya was here! He, of all people, had caught her charm bracelet! He was too smart to have not figured it out…so was he toying with her?

"Really?" Kyoya thrilled at the possibility presented. He couldn't help himself. "What's he like?"

"Uhh…he's…really cool…and calm, and smart…and he's very good looking…and chivalrous…he's just all around charming, really…" then she smirked. She realized she could play the same game with him. "So what's your name?"

He smiled. Was she going to keep playing? It had to be her… "Kyoya Ootori, miss Princess of Hearts."

"And…are there any girls that you're interested in…Ootori-san?" she asked, still with hesitation in her voice. "I don't mean to pry, but you did ask me first…"

Kyoya smirked…and felt a thrill go through him yet again. His nerves shuddered. Here it goes. "As a matter of fact, there is one…"

Ella felt a shiver run through her. "And…what's she like?"

"Well…" he took a deep breath and smirked. "She's very sweet. And smart. And funny and giggly and cute. She has a fantastic singing voice…I heard her as I walked by the choir room earlier today."

Ella grinned. So it was him.

"She is quite mysterious though…she gets rather nervous whenever I ask about her background…and earlier today I asked her to come to this concert with me, and she refused rather quickly and ran away. At first I was hurt, but I think now I know why."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" she said genuinely. She hadn't meant to hurt him.

"And she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen by far…she has beautiful blond hair and a sweet face like a porcelain doll…and her eyes are the perfect shade of blue. Yes, I have to say I'd know those eyes anywhere." He looked at her pointedly, though she was still turned away…did he see her shiver?

She had never been so happy. He really thought that of her?! She could die right there.

He smirked again. "Well, didn't you want your bracelet back?" he held it up and shook it.

"Uhh…yeah." She said. She didn't move.

"Well, you're going to have to turn around and take it."

She took a deep, audible breath, and turned very slowly, looking down.

Kyoya chuckled. He could only see the top of her head…

He saw something else and smirked. "What's this?" he asked dramatically. "A blond curl? You mean to tell me this is a wig?" he mocked surprise.

Ella bit her lip. Now what?

Kyoya bent down and whispered in her ear. "Are there any pins left in it?"

She shook her head no, so he wasted no time in pulling the pink wig swiftly off of the top of her head. And out fell Ella's blond hair, curling beautifully from the way she had it up, framing her face.

"_Here goes…"_ he thought to himself.

He took her chin delicately in his hand and pulled her head up to look at him. She blinked twice and there were her sparkling blue eyes.

"Oh yes." He said, nearly whispering. "I would recognize those eyes anywhere."

He didn't say another word. Where he got the courage he wasn't sure, perhaps it was from his little game, making him feel like himself again. But he took Ella's delicate face in one hand, and with the other he took her by her tiny waist and pulled her close…and he kissed her.

The kiss was passionate…Ella's knees went weak. Kyoya was kissing her. Here. He knew her secret.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and laced her fingers in his hair and kissed him back just as passionately. And it was the most perfect, most romantic moment of her life.

It was Kyoya's first real kiss. And it was everything he could ever have possibly wanted, and he just wanted it to keep going forever, and he wanted a million more, and it was perfect, and she was perfect…

After about a minute, they pulled apart, and gazed at each other affectionately.

"So…now what?" Ella giggled.

"You know, Ella, I really don't know…" he smirked. "We could just keep going with this."

She giggled, that high, sweet, tinkling-bell giggle he loved so much. "I like it."

And without another word, she pulled him in and kissed him again. And this time, when they pulled apart, Ella simply couldn't help herself:

"_Have you ever wished for an endless night?_

_Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight?_

_Have you ever…held your breath…and asked yourself_

_"Will it ever get better than tonight?"_

_Tonight…"_

And truly, looking into Ella's eyes in that moment, he wasn't sure that it could. But then again...he was standing here, holding the most beautiful girl in the world in his arms...

_"I suppose anything's possible now."_ he thought.

**There it is. There is the ending! Okay...I can't help it, I'm going to have to write an epilogue...so...till then! Thank you so much for all of your support!**

**~FeatherSong**


	11. Epilogue

**I watched the whole season of Ouran today. It was a good day. Anyway...Here it is...the epilogue. This is such a bittersweet moment!**

Ella hummed to herself as she half walked, half skipped down that hall in the south building, ready to begin her first official day on staff at the host club. She reached the end of the north hallway and pulled on the handle without hesitation.

When she opened the door, there was the host club!

They didn't seem as organized as usual, however. The scene she found inside wasn't exactly chaos, but it certainly wasn't what she was used to seeing. There was Honey at his tea table sitting across from his stuffed bunny, clapping his hands excitedly as Mori-senpai placed a small cake in front of each of them. Then there wer Haruhi and Tamaki sitting with Kyoya at his desk…she sighed happily: Kyoya's small smile as he listened to whatever Tamaki had to say was just so cute…

And then there were the twins.

"Why hello there, Ella!"

"Or should we call you Heart?"

She smirked. "Hello Hikaru. Hello Kaouru." She addressed them each individually, turning her head first to the left, then to the right. The twins were dumbfounded.

"Hey! How can you tell us apart?!" Hikaru asked indignantly.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be impossible!" Kaouru chimed in.

Ella giggled. "It's simple, really. Don't take it too personally, I guess it's just my ear training, but you guys have really different voices. Hikaru's is kind of smooth and nasal, while Kaouru's is more scratchy, and a little bit higher."

The two blinked in surprise for a moment. Then their mischevious smiles returned.

"So what you're saying is…" Hikaru began.

"If we speak together like this you can't tell us apart?" they said together.

She chuckled. "Well if you're on either side of me like that I can, but from far away, you're right, I probably couldn't."

They took their arms from around her and stepped in front of her, still smirking. "So how about now?" they said.

She giggled. "Nope. Now I know which way you have your hair parted today."

Their smirks dropped from their faces, making Ella laugh even harder.

Her laugh got Kyoya's attention, and he looked up from Tamaki and Haruhi with a smile.

"Uh-oh, I think we've lost him." Tamaki joked.

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't act the same way, Tamaki." Haruhi ribbed. "You're worse."

Kyoya rose from his chair, still smiling. "Excuse me, you two."

Tamaki turned to her with a smile and one of those roses from nowhere. "I guess we hosts just can't help it when the woman we care for is near!" he said dramatically.

Haruhi took the rose, blushing a bit but still rolling her eyes. "Tamaki, you're an idiot." Tamaki only smiled.

"Are you two bothering her again?" Kyoya asked the twins, though still smiling, and looking directly at Ella.

Ella giggled, sending a wave of warmth through Kyoya's body. "No," she said. "I actually think it's the other way around."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah." said Hikaru with some annoyance.

"She told us apart. She says it's our voices!" Kyoya explained.

Kyoya raised both of his eyebrows in surprise, turning slightly to regard the two. "That's actually very good, I had never noticed that before." He turned back to Ella, with a grin. "Hello, Ella." He smiled down at her with his hands in his pockets.

"So formal with your new girlfriend, Kyoya." She said, mocking disapproval. Her faked intolerant face quickly turned back into a grin. "Come here, you." She said, grabbing him by the tie and pulling him in for a kiss. He was surprised for a second, but quickly melted with her lips on his and kissed her back.

"That's still really weird." Said Hikaru.

"I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to the idea of Kyoya-senpai having feelings." Kaouru agreed.

"I think it's sweet!" Honey commented. Mori nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Ella, did you say girlfriend?" Haruhi asked. "I didn't know that you guys had made it official, when did that happen?"

Ella giggled. "This morning." She grinned up at Kyoya.

"Oh, and incidentally, what did your friend say after I left?" Kyoya asked Ella. "Terri seemed like she was bursting to say something."

Ella giggled. "Well…"

_That morning…_

Ella's math class had just let out, and she was thankful to have made it out of the room with nothing but a couple of contemptuous glares form Yoko and Yuri. She was surprised to turn and find Kyoya right behind her, smiling and looking at her with smoldering eyes, holding a blue rose in his hand.

"Oh! Good morning, Kyoya!" she was excited to see him after last night, she had butterflies in her stomach. After all they had kind of been interrupted, and hadn't had a chance to finish anything…

_The night before…_

The two had ended up on Ella's makeup chair: she was sitting in his lap. He was running his hand through her blonde curls when there was a rap on the door.

"Hello, Miss Princess of Hearts?" came Tamaki's voice through the door. "I'd hate to trouble you, but might my friends and I have some autographs?"

Kyoya and Ella looked at each other for a moment, both wondering what to do. Then Kyoya got an idea. He smiled mischeviously.

"How would you like to play a game?" he whispered. She nodded excitedly, giving him back the same mischevious smile.

"What do we do?" she whispered back.

"How quickly can you get that wig back on?"

Ella caught on quickly. She spoke up in her accented Japanese. "Sure thing, just a minute!" She began pinning her hair back up.

"Here, let me help." Kyoya offered, taking a strand of her hair and pinning it back in place. "By the way, why do you put on that fake accent? Your Japanese is nearly flawless."

She giggled quietly as he pinned the last hair in its place. "It's part of my character." She took the wig and put it on, and winked at him in the mirror, making him smile as he placed the two pins in it.

"Ready?" he whispered.

She nodded. "Come in!" she called.

The door opened, and Tamaki walked in, followed by Hikaru and Kaouru with their arms around each other, followed by Mori with Honey on his shoulders.

"Hello!" Tamaki said jovially. "Your concert was magnificent, I—oh! Kyoya! I see you've met our friend Kyoya already!"

"Why thank you!" she replied. "And yes, I have indeed met Kyoya…"

Kyoya smirked and took this as his cue. "Thouroughly." He said, in his best host-voice. He then picked her up bride-style and kissed her dramatically.

The reaction from the Host Club was exactly what they both expected: Their faces all showed the appropriate amount of shock, and there was a general cry of: "GAAAAAAAHHH?!"

"Wh-wha…" Tamaki stuttered. "Kyoya-senpai?! What are you…I don't understand…"

Ella opened her mouth to say something, but Kyoya put a finger to her lips and put her down.

"Let's see if they can figure it out. Miss…Heart…your bracelet please."

"Anything for you, Kyoya." She dramatized, making him glow inside: she was surprisingly good at these games. She handed him the bracelet.

"Take a look at these charms, Tamaki."

Tamaki, still partially in shock, took the bracelet and looked at it. "Wicked…Les Mis…a staff…" he looked closer. "Is that an E and an F?"

They both nodded.

Tamaki stared for another moment before looking up at Heart's face, then back down again, then up, then back down again. Kyoya had hope…

"I don't get it."

Ella giggled, and Kyoya slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Wait a minute…" Haruhi stepped up to Heart and looked her straight in the eye. Then she smiled. Then she started laughing.

"What's so funny, Haruhi?" asked the twins. She was still laughing.

"Haru-chan, why are you laughing?" asked Honey.

She finally calmed down enough to reach up and find the pins in her wig and take them out. "Because…" she said. She slowly pulled off the wig. "Look!"

Just like before, Ella's blond curls fell out and framed her face, and there was another moment of shock, although this time silent, except for Haruhi's quiet laughter. "I guess we're both living in disguise, huh Ella?"

Ella giggled, and the giggle then turned into a laugh. "I guess you're right, Haruhi."

Kyoya just smirked, waiting for it to sink in.

"So…" Tamaki began. "You kissed her…because she's…Ella?" he cocked his head to the side. Then his expression turned into that puppy-dog one with the shiny eyes. "OH KYOYA THAT'S SO AMAZING THAT'S SUPER AMAZING AWW YOU LIKE HER AND SHE LIKES YOU AND EVERYTHING IS SO HAPPY YAAAAAY!"

Kyoya pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I suppose that's the gist of it."

After that it had pretty much been everybody freaking out and congratulating her about the concert. She did get one last very romantic goodbye peck on the lips, but nothing was set in stone.

_Back to the morning after that…_

Kyoya smiled at her genially and held out the flower. "Good morning, Ella. This is for you."

She took it. "Thank you, Kyoya…it's lovely." She grinned up at him, making his heart flutter.

"I'm afraid we never got to finish things last night." Kyoya said. "I had something I wanted to ask you, Ella."

"Oh?" she asked, her heart jumping. "What was that?"

Kyoya gulped, though he kept his outward cool. "I was wondering…if you would like to become…my girlfriend. Officially."

Ella giggled delightedly. "Of course, Kyoya!" she jumped up and hugged him, and he caught her around the waist and held her up for a moment, then placed her back down, and gazed into her smiling blue eyes for a moment before letting her go.

"Ohmigod. Ella?!" Kyoya looked behind Ella's head to see Teresa Baker with her hands covering her mouth in shock.

Ella turned around. "Oh!" she blushed. "Heya, Terri. Just a minute, okay?" Terri nodded, eyes still wide in shock.

"Well, it appears your friend has something she wants to say to you, my dear." Kyoya said softly. "I'll talk to you in English class." He smiled, then pulled her in and kissed her for a few seconds. He let her go and began to walk away, still holding her hand out in front of him. "Goodbye, darling." He said, in his perfect English. He then turned and walked away, giving her a backward glance and a smile.

After he turned around and walked away again, Ella turned and walked to Terri.

She sighed. "Good mo-"

"OHMYGOD ELLA WHAT WAS THAT KYOYA DEFINITELY JUST KISSED YOU I TOLD YOU HE LIKED YOU!"

Ella laughed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah…he's kind of my boyfriend now."

"OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD"…

It was basically the same thing over and over after that.

_Back to the present…_

"And what about in your choir class?" Kyoya asked.

"Oh, it was pretty much the same thing, but with Mizune present too. I had to make up the story of how it happened, though." Ella laughed.

"Oh, uh, Kyoya…" Tamaki began nervously. "What are you going to do about guests…now that…you and Ella…uh…?"

Ella turned to Kyoya. "I don't REALLY have too much of a problem with you still "entertaining" guests…you don't really flirt…so…"

Kyoya shook his head. "Even so, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to provide adequate hosting services if I were thinking about you the entire time. So I'll just stop entertaining and be full-time manager. I can still charm without taking guests personally." He pushed his glasses up. "Besides, I figure most potential guests will be put off by my having a girlfriend: Half the school already knows. It will probably show up on the front page of that crap school newspaper tomorrow." He smirked a bit at the prospect.

"Oh wow, little harsh hon." Ella laughed.

"No, we had a whole dealing with those guys before." Said Haruhi.

"What?" Tamaki said. "I thought-"

"Uhhh nevermind Tamaki!" said Haruhi.

Hikaru raised his hand. "I just have one question?"

"What's that?" said Kyoya.

"Are we all aware that almost this whole chapter was basically flashback-ception?"

"Yeah, there had to have been a better way to organize this." Kaouru agreed.

"Do you have a problem with my organization?!" said nobody.

"Uhhh…who said that?" asked Hikaru.

"Please don't anger the author, Hikaru and Kaouru." Kyoya said. "I like how she's been playing things so far, we wouldn't want to put her in a bad mood."

Ella's eyes widened. "You guys are breaking the fourth wall! Aren't you not supposed to do that?"

The twins shrugged. "We do it all the time, it started in like the third episode of the anime."

"Yes." Kyoya pushed his glasses up and looked pointedly at Tamaki. "By the way, who's homosexual supporting cast now?"

Tamaki dropped a bead of sweat before breaking back into a smile. "Yes, but I WAS right about me and Haruhi being love interests!"

"Say what now." Haruhi said suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing…" Tamaki said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Even so…but I think we might have a new hero and heroine now." Kyoya said, smirking deviously. "And somebody else may have just joined supporting cast."

"Don't go making predictions just yet, Kyoya." Said the disembodied voice of the author. "I still have some things up my sleeve."

"With all due respect, your authorship…" said Hikaru.

"You're a disembodied voice." continued Kaouru.

"So you don't really have sleeves." They said together.

Suddenly, Hikaru and Kaouru's mouths disappeared. They began panicking.

"You know, FeatherSong, I think this might be getting a little out of hand?" Ella suggested. "Maybe we should just end it?"

Kyoya took Ella's hand and smiled. "Very good, you're getting the hang of this very quickly."

"Fine…" the author said. Hikaru and Kaouru's mouths reappeared, and the two breathed a sigh of relief.

But it may only be the end for now. ;D

**LOLOL sorry couldn't resist doing that at the end, it always seemed like so much fun. Breaking the fourth wall...so naughty;P So anyway, guys, I have a question for you. I'm planning on making little one shots after this, and I'm wondering if I should just add them as chapters to this story, or publish them seperately. What do you think?**

**On a seperate note, I'm so thrilled that you all have revewed and followed and favorited and just made me feel like this story was a general success. I love you all sooooo much! Thank you to infinity!**

**Until next time!**

**~FeatherSong**


	12. The Reaction of the Lady Manager!

**I'M BAAAAAACK! :D Miss me? ;) Sorry I took so long, busy busy busy! Musical started, have to practice for District Chorus, have to study PreCalc for my final...oh, and a lovely end-of-semester project. Yet here I am! Because I love you! This one is mainly just fluff, if even that. Just a little bit.**

"_Brrrrrriiiiiiiiiinggg!"_ Went the bell. Another choir class and another school day was over. Ella was a little relieved: The piece of music they were learning was difficult and tedious. On top of that, she was eager to get to the Host Club. Today they wouldn't have any guests, which meant more free time with Kyoya. It had been a week, and they were at full-on honeymoon phase: They couldn't get enough of each other. Sometimes in the halls, Ella swore she felt the glares of some of his old guests in the halls. It was pretty impossible to keep something like this quiet for long (especially since Terri knew). The whole school knew about "Kyellya" in a day.

"Gee, Ella, where are you hurrying to?" Terri asked sarcastically. Ella simply rolled her eyes in response as she hooked her bag over her shoulder.

"Ugh, it's gonna be so cute, Kyoya and Ella with no guests around?" Mizune said wistfully. "I wish I could be a fly on the wall…"

Ella looked at her strangely, though smiling. "You watch us?"

Mizune nodded, grinning, perhaps a bit guiltily. "Oh yeah. Lots of us do. It's like watching a romance movie!"

Ella giggled. "Well, I'm glad you find us so entertaining." She turned to leave. "I'll see you later, guys."

"Bye!" they said knowingly.

…

Ella slipped in the door of Music Room 3 quietly, shutting it behind her unnoticed. She liked to observe what was going on around her sometimes. The chaos created by their combined personalities was almost peaceful, in its own way.

For example, right now Mori, Honey, Tamaki, and the Twins were playing Marco Polo in the middle of the room. It was rather comical: They had Mori blindfolded, and he was walking around with his arms held out in front of him, occasionally calling out "Marco." In his deep, monotone voice. Meanwhile, around him, the three boys ran and giggled and ducked from his every grab.

Haruhi was sitting on the windowsill, reading a book, apparently completely absorbed. "Could you guys keep it down a little, please?" she called. "This is a really good book…" she mumbled.

Tamaki rushed to her side. "Ah, but Haruhi dear, wouldn't you like to join us playing the games of your childhood?"

"Thanks Tamaki-senpai, but I got enough of those games when I was a kid."

Tamaki put his hands on his hips. "Haruhi?" he said expectantly.

She looked up. "Oh, sorry Tamaki. I forgot."

He grinned. "Oh, I could never be mad at you!" he pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly.

"Tamaki…you're…crushing…me!" she managed.

"Oh. Sorry." He said. He let her go, kissed the top of her head, and returned to the game. She smiled, rolled her eyes, and sat back down.

Ella looked around for the one missing member, but she couldn't find him…

"Looking for me?" a smooth, cool voice asked from behind her. She gasped and turned around, her hand over her heart.

"Don't do that, you scared me!" she laughed.

He smirked. "I'm sorry, darling." He said, wrapping is arms around her waist.

"No you're not." She said knowingly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He chuckled as she stood tiptoe to kiss him.

"You know me too well." He said. Her eyes were still closed, and their noses were touching. "Open your eyes." He commanded gently. She obliged. "Lovely." He said, smiling.

"Ellie-chaaaaaan!" came Honey's high voice as he ran across the room. Ella let go of Kyoya just in time to catch him as he jumped into her arms.

She laughed. "Well hello to you too, Honey."

"Ellie-chan, I got a special cake for you today!" he said proudly. "It's chocolate chocolate with caramel drizzle! 'Cause I asked Kyoya, and he told me that was your favorite!"

Ella smiled and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "It IS my favorite, how did Kyoya know?" she looked at him.

"I am a very observant individual." He grinned. "Go have your cake, I have things to go over." He kissed her on the cheek and pushed her in the direction of what he dubbed the "snack table" and sat down at his own table. Ella set Honey down, and he ran over giggling to the aforementioned snack table.

"Oh, wait." Ella paused and turned back to Kyoya, who looked up. "I got you a present."

"Oh?"

"Here." She grinned.

It was a leather bound notebook, lined on the inside, dark blue, with a heart stitched into a corner. Kyoya took it and admired it, slightly amazed. "Why, thank you, Ella…" he said.

She giggled proudly. "You're not the only one who's observant." She kissed him on the cheek and then went to join Honey at his table.

He sighed and laughed to himself, only thinking of how perfect she was and how lucky he was.

Suddenly, there came the sound of a loud motor and a piercing laugh.

"What on earth…" Ella wondered aloud.

"That's Renege-chan." Honey said. "I kinda forgot about her, How about you, Takashi?" Mori nodded.

Finally, from nowhere, a platform emerged, atop which stood a girl, arms extended to the sky in a dramatic pose. "Bet you all forgot about me, didn't ya?" she said, winking. "What are the boys of my lovely Host Club up to today, huh?" she asked. She stepped down and surveyed the room, hands on her hips. "Let's see…Haruhi is currently ensnared in the throes of his newest novel!" she said dramatically. "Meanwhile, Tamaki and the twins seem to be having an animated argument, and Kyoya is writing in what appears to be a brand new notebook!" And Honey and Mori are enjoying cake with…" she cocked her head. "Who is this."

Tamaki stood up. "Terribly sorry, Renege, I completely forgot: This is Ella Flynn. She's our official cosplay organizer."

Ella stood and smiled. She walked over and went to shake Renege's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Renege's eyes narrowed, and she turned her head slowly to look at Tamaki. "I'm sorry, I seem to have misheard you, do you mean to tell me that you hired a new member WITHOUT ASKING YOUR LADY MANAGER?!"

"AAAAAHHHH MOMMY HELLLLLLP MEEE SHE'S GONNA EAT MEEE!" Tamaki cried. (Truthfully, she did look very scary: She had the red eyes and the snake hair and appeared twice as large as Tamaki, who had tears in his eyes.)

Kyoya put a hand lightly on Renege's shoulder. "In all fairness, Renege, Tamaki is the president, he can do whatever he wants."

Renege sputtered for a moment, then sighed. "Well, logically I suppose you're right. Though I resent the idea of a need for a cosplay organizer…" she mumbled. She turned back to Ella with a smile. "Regardless, it's nice to meet you!" she said. "I'm sure it'll be nice to have another girl to share my love of the boys of the host club with. Are you a Honey fan, then?"

The twins snickered. "Not exactly." Kaouru said.

"Oh. Mori, then?" she smiled.

They laughed again. "Nope!" Hikaru said.

She turned in annoyance. "What is so funny?!"

Kyoya motioned mischievously for Ella to come sit in his lap. Ella grinned and obliged. "I love this game." She whispered.

"Me too." He whispered back, before kissing her.

"WHAT?!" The two heard Renege's voice. "What is going—what?!"

"What, you mean you haven't heard yet?" Kyoya said innocently. "Ella is my girlfriend."

Renege sputtered. "But—I—you—b—b—but…YOU KNOW I WAS IN FRANCE VISITING MY FATHER THIS WEEK HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT KYOYA SUDDENLY DECIDED SOMEBODY WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM?!"

"Finally?" Ella asked.

"Renege came here under the delusion that she was engaged to Kyoya." Hikaru explained.

"Oh?" Ella was confused.

"Something about a video game character that looked just like him." Kaouru went on.

"Oh!" Ella said excitedly. "I've heard about those games, they're like interactive relationship games!"

"Uh huh!" Renege said excitedly.

"The storyline detail on those things must be incredible…" Ella said thoughtfully.

"Oh they are. So intricate!" she said, clasping Ella's hand's. "Would you like to come over and try one after this?"

"I'd love to!" Ella enthused.

The two walked, arm in arm, back to the table with the snacks, gossiping all the way.

"Well…it's nice they're getting along so well…" Tamaki said unsurely.

Kyoya frowned thoughtfully. "I agree." He said. "Though I can't help but feel I was just forgotten…"

He shrugged thoughtfully and turned to go back to his desk. Suddenly he felt a hand on his arm and turned around. Before he could even think the was being kissed.

"Don't worry." Ella said. "I didn't forget you." She winked and handed him a folder. "Here's my cosplay idea. Talk to you in a little." She kissed him one more time before darting off to rejoin Renege, Honey, and Mori."

He chuckled as he returned to his table. _"She knows me too well."_ He thought.

**I have SOOOOOOO many ideas! I'll be back soon, super duper promise! It's supposed to snow here this week. So probably that day. Love you all, R&R, hugs and kisses, see you soon!**

**~FeatherSong**


	13. Princely Cosplay

**And here's another one! Once again, just fluff, nothing too special, imagination thingies I had running around in my head. I figure they'd know disney movies, seeing as there's a Disney World in Tokyo and junk...kay that's all, enjoy!**

The noisy chaos of Music Room 3 after school had crescendoed from nothingness without Kyoya's notice whilst he was in the midst of editing an essay for English class. He had to say that he was a bit irritated, but he tried his best to ignore it and just concentrate on his homework. Today was a cosplay day, and the guests were due in half an hour. Problem was, Ella was nowhere in sight, and he had had no dealings in the ordering of the costumes; Renge had handled it all. So he had no clue what they were. The curiousity was nibbling at the back of his mind.

Suddenly, adding to the noise was that familiar loud motor and high, shrill laugh. Kyoya looked up from his work, expecting to see Renge. He did not expect to see two dark-haired, period-costume women, one dressed as a Native American, the other as a Chinese woman from a much earlier century. Confused, he pushed his glasses up as the two stepped down to get a better look, and was amused to find that the Native American was in fact Renge, and the Chinese woman next to her was Ella.

"What's all this?" he asked.

"Cosplay!" Ella replied jovially, thrusting a large box into Kyoya's hands. "Your turn!"

Kyoya opened the box and peered inside, curious. What he found was an array of different costumes, most looking reminiscent of feudal periods in history. They were labeled with their names, so Kyoya, choosing not to bother questioning any further, picked his up and stepped into one of the closets to change.

He held out his costume in front of him and wondered why he had been chosen to wear garb that was obviously from French history, when Tamaki was clearly the French one. The costume consisted of black pants with a gold stripe down the side, light blue tights, brown buckle shoes, a blue jacket with gold accents, and a white neckerchief. He just couldn't figure out the theme. _"I don't get it…"_ he thought as he tucked in the neckerchief. _"Is it some kind of cultural theme? But I see no connection between the time periods…"_

That guess was proven false the minute he stepped outside to see Honey running around dressed as a lion cub.

"Wait a minute, Honey!" cried a laughing Ella, chasing him. "I still have to draw on your whiskers!"

Kyoya was now quite confused…Honey was the only one dressed as an animal. There was Tamaki, grinning from ear to ear as he admired himself in a very princely military uniform that looked rather English. Then Haruhi, wearing a gray Renaissance costume, complete with red cape and hat with red feather. The twins were dressed completely inharmoniously: One appeared to be from a third-century Middle Eastern country, while the other looked like some kind of sailor. Lastly, there was Mori. His costume didn't exactly look like it was from any specific period of time, but it was blue and also had a red cape.

"Ella…" he said, approaching her where she was finishing drawing on Honey' face. "What is all this?"

"Oh, I know!" Honey said, raising his hand. "Ellie-chan dressed us all up as princes!"

"Yes…I suppose I can see that, but…Honey, you're a lion cub, and that doesn't explain these two girls…"

"No, no, Kyo-chan!" Honey said. "I am a prince, I'm Simba! And Ellie-chan is Mulan, and Renge-chan is Pocohantas!"

"Simba? Mulan? Pocohantas? I know those names sound familiar…"

"Stupid Kyoya!" Renge appeared from nowhere. "Can't you see?! We're Disney Royalty!"

Kyoya nodded, remembering now. "Of course, I should have seen it."

"That's right!" Renge said, clearly about to break into one of her tangents. "After the last chapter, when Ella came over to play my games with me, we eventually got bored, so we decided to put on a movie." She explained. "That's how we got onto the topic of Disney and his wonderful creations!" she gushed.

"Turns out we're both huge fans." Ella smiled.

"And so we decided that that's what the next Host Club cosplay would be!" Renge finished. "Honey is Simba because of his baby-faced nature and innocence. Tamaki is Prince Charming because c'mon that's obvious what other prince would Tamaki be than the classic charmer?! Haruhi is Prince Philip because he's just natural and himself all the time, just like Philip is in Sleeping Beauty when he meets Briar Rose in the woods! Kyoya is the Beast because of his dark side, though apparently sweet underlying demeanor. I must admit," she said, throwing a smirk to Ella who returned it. "Mori's costume is almost like a joke: He's Snow White's Prince because he is the strong silent type, and the prince in Snow White barely speaks or even shows up in the movie at all. And last but not least, the twins are Aladdin and Prince Eric."

"Hikaru is Aladdin because of his natural inclination towards trouble and mischievous behavior, and Kaouru is Eric because of his laid back and fun loving persona." Ella explained.

"Then what about you two, why are you Mulan and Pocohantas?" asked Haruhi.

"We chose to embody those classic Disney Princess movies that we were forced to leave out, due to their lack of an actual prince!" Renge said dramatically.

"Yeah, even though my favorite princess is Ariel and hers is Sleeping Beauty." Finished Ella

"Yes, Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose, Princess Aurora!" Renge cried, starry-eyed. "Such majesty, such grace, such unadulterated beauty and purity!"

"My favorite is Cinderella!" Honey chimed in. "She's so nice to the mice and the birdies and even the cat, even though that cat's a big old meanie head!"

"I always loved Snow White, though I can't really put my finger on why." Tamaki said thoughtfully.

"Maybe because she's a ditz." Haruhi laughed.

"Hey!" Tamaki cried. "Who was your favorite, then, Haruhi?"

"Well, to be honest, I was never too into fairy tales." She said. "But I was a fan of Mulan. She was really independent and strong willed, and I liked that."

"Okay, what about you, Mori?" Ella asked. He simply shrugged.

"Takashi likes Cinderella too, don't you, Takashi?"

"Sure." He said.

"Okay," Ella turned. "Hikaru? Kaouru?"

"Jasmine." They said together. "She has an attitude."

Finally Ella turned to Kyoya. "Kyoya? What about you? Who's your favorite princess?"

"Well, in all honesty, I was never really into fairy tales either." He said. "But I did have my sister Fuyumi to make me sit through them all." He thought for a moment. "I suppose I'd say my favorite is Belle, because of her intelligence."

Renge rolled her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me." She said.

"Awww, so cute Kyoya…" Ella said.

Kyoya blushed a little. "What?"

She pecked him on the cheek. "Nothing."

"Alright, enough of that!" Renge rushed them. "The guests are here, let's get a move on!" she pulled Ella to a corner with her as the boys took their usual places. Right on time, the door opened.

"_Welcome!"_

**I promise these will get better and more fluffy soon. Stay tuned for a SUPER fluffy one next time. Au revoir!**

**(Wow. That's weird. This was supposed to be posted a week ago. Sadface, sorry. It's here now!)**

**~FeatherSong**


	14. Meet the Flynns!

**I'm baaaaaack! This one's a little less fluffy. Still super fluffy. Longer though! Here you go:)**

Kyoya looked in the mirror and rolled up his sleeves for what seemed like the hundredth time in half an hour. Why, why had he decided to get dressed so early? For goodness' sake, it was only six, he wasn't leaving for at least another half hour. Now he felt idle. And idle made him jumpy. He was already nervous to begin with…

"Kyoya? You in here?"

Kyoya couldn't decide whether Fuyumi's voice heading towards his room made him feel relieved or more nervous. "Yeah, sis." He called.

She appeared in his doorway, arms crossed and smiling. "Hey you. A little birdie told me you have a date in about an hour."

Kyoya rolled his eyes. "By any chance, was that bird's name Tamaki?"

Fuyumi ignored him (he knew he was right anyway). She stepped all the way through the doorway to fully perceive her little brother. "Oh, look at you, so well dressed!" she clapped her hands and grinned.

Kyoya was dressed in regular jeans, a powder blue button down, and a navy blazer. His top two buttons were undone, giving him a more casual appearance.

Then she looked at his feet. "Uh, Kyoya…you're not wearing shoes." She pointed out.

He looked down in surprise. She was right, he had forgotten his shoes. "Oh."

She was already tearing through his closet. "Well, none of these will work…too dressy, too casual…" suddenly, she snapped her fingers, got up, and left quickly without a word.

This was definitely making him more nervous. She was right, almost all of his shoes were too dressy… _"God, I sound like a girl…"_ he thought. "_What's wrong with me?"_

Suddenly Fuyumi was back with a box. "These were going to be a present, but I think we need them here." She handed him the oblong box, and he opened it.

Inside the box, there was a pair of plain black and white Converse. They were perfect: They weren't too casual or athletic, but they certainly weren't formal. He put them on, and they fit and matched perfectly.

He smiled at his reflection. "Thanks, sis."

She hugged him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "No problem, baby brother." She smiled at his reflection too. "I'm just glad to see you so happy." She turned to gaze at him affectionately. "You really like her, don't you?"

He blushed a bit. "I do." He said, smiling. "She's sweet, and funny, and witty, and smart, and attentive—more attentive than I thought I'd ever like…" he considered his sister for a second. "Actually," he said, chuckling. "She kind of reminds me of you, now that I think about it." He laughed freely.

Fuyumi smiled proudly. "Well, I have to say I'm flattered!" she kissed him on the cheek again. "She's a lucky girl, Kyoya-kun."

"Thanks, sis."

_Meanwhile…_

Friday night. Ella always loved Friday nights. But this one especially: No concert, no homework, no responsibility…

Not to mention a date with Kyoya. The first, in fact…

Presently, Ella was throwing clothes out of her closet and making a pile on her bed. _"What to wear, what to wear, I have to look perfect, he's never seen me in anything but that gaudy uniform…"_

Just then Emma walked in, tiredly tossing her gym bag in the corner.

"What happened here, did the closet blow up?" she exclaimed.

Ella sighed. "No, I have a date, I'm trying to find something to wear."

"What the hell, El?" she laughed. "We've been here like, what, not even a month yet. How do you already have a boyfriend?!"

She giggled and shrugged. "I guess it just happened? I dunno Em, I just got lucky I guess."

She sighed. "So what's his name? What's he like?"

"His name is Kyoya Ootori." Ella said with a smile. "He's sweet and witty and really smart, and also kind of dark and mysterious."

"Okay, I meant what's he look like." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh! He's tall and really hot. Messy black hair. Glasses. Cute side smirk."

"You always were into Asians…"

"Oh shut up, Emma." She said, grinning, and beginning to go through the mountain of clothes, separating them into piles of "Yes" "Maybe" and "Definitely not." "So how was your first day on the swim team?"

"Oh, great. These guys are good, really fast, really disciplined. I like it."

"Can ya keep up?" she teased.

"Yes." She said indignantly. "But a lot of them are better than me, I have room for improvement." She admitted. She looked over. "Wait a minute." She said, eyes narrowing. "Ootori, that's the name of the health clinic we were swimming at. Coincidence?"

"Oh, no." Ella said absently. "That's his father's business. He plans to run it someday. At least, he wants to."

Emma's eyes widened. "Wait, so he's like super rich?!"

"Well, yeah." Ella said. "Practically everybody at that school is."

"Where's he taking you?"

"Just a little coffee shop in the city, nothing big or fancy."

"Oh." She said, almost sounding disappointed. "Why not wear this then?" she asked, holding up an orangey-salmon dress with an a-line skirt, quarter length sleeves, and tiny blue and gray floral print.

"A little dressy, don't you think?"

"Just wear it with your brown boots and your cropped jean jacket." She said, tossing them at her.

"Oh, good idea. Thanks Em."

"Sure." She said absently, flipping open a magazine.

An hour later, Ella was all dressed, and had just finished her makeup. She was pulling her hair out of the curlers it was in to give it gentle curls on the end when Ricky came bounding into the room. Both girls looked up.

"There's a limmo out front! And there was a buzz on the buzzer and a guy who said he was here to see you, Ella!"

She giggled. "That's my date, Ricky."

"A date already?" her mother asked from the kitchen. "I'll never know how she does it…" she said to herself.

"Mom, please." Ella laughed.

_Meanwhile…_

Kyoya stepped up to the door, hands in his pockets. He went to open the door, only to discover it was locked. _"Curious." _He thought. "_Now how does this work, then?"_ he saw a panel of buttons by the door. That's right, Ella had said something about living in apartment number four. There were nine buttons. He counted four up and almost pressed, but he noticed the button was labeled 2B. _"No…I think that's wrong…_" he read up until he got to the seventh one up. That one was labeled 4. He pressed it. There was a buzzing sound, then nothing. He waited.

"Who is it?" came the voice of a boy, most likely still in middle school.

"Kyoya Ootori, I'm here for Ella Flynn?" he wasn't exactly sure he had the right apartment…

"Oh, okay, come right up!" there was a click, and then the door was unlocked. He opened it and was about to walk inside, but he noticed a man approaching with a briefcase, and held it open. "After you, sir." He said.

"Thank you, young man." He said graciously. He looked to be in his mid forties, with a large belly and a graying beard. He was dressed in casual business attire, and was decidedly a native English speaker, from his accent. It was Kyoya's understanding that this part of the city was mainly inhabited by non-natives.

The two began ascending the stairs together. "That limmo outside yours?" he asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here."

"Yes it is, and no, you probably haven't. Kyoya Ootori, sir." He said, holding out his hand.

The man shook it. "Ootori, huh? Like the Ootori group?" Kyoya nodded. "My company just helped hook them up to a new carrier."

"Oh yes, my father mentioned that this morning, apparently it's much more efficient."

"Glad to hear it." He said. "So, are you here on business?" he asked curiously.

"No." Kyoya said, realizing, to his discomfort, that it would be rude not to go on. "I'm here to pick up a girl for a date."

"Oh." He looked at Kyoya, appearing a little confused. "Oh!" he said again, then laughed. "Sorry, I didn't realize at first, you seemed so much older, but you're still in high school aren't you?"

Kyoya laughed and nodded. "Yes, I'm seventeen. Don't worry though, I get that a lot."

They got to the fourth floor and both stopped, though the man didn't notice. He pulled out his key to unlock the door. Kyoya's first reaction was confusion. He was sure this was the right floor…

"I have a daughter your age, actually." He said. That was the point where his pulse increased. So this was…Ella's father…

He laughed nervously. "That's funny…I think I know…that is, this is what I thought the apartment was…ah…" the man looked confused. "Would you be Mr. Flynn, then?" he asked nervously.

"Yes…" the man said, not fully understanding. Then he did. "Oh! So you're here for Ella, then?"

"Uh, yes." He replied, smiling nervously.

"Well, right this way then." He said, unlocking the door. "I've never understood how she ropes guys in so fast…you're in for it, you know." He said. "I've never seen her in a relationship lasting less than half a year."

Kyoya laughed more openly now. "I don't mind at all. She's quite a charming young woman." He said.

Mr. Flynn opened the door, and the two stepped inside. He placed his bag in the corner. "Hello, everybody!" he called.

"Hello, Rick!" came a woman's voice from the kitchen. A woman stepped out who resembled Ella remarkably, only older, and with shorter, thinner hair, and a different nose.

"Hello, Beth." He said, pecking his wife on the lips while Kyoya stood in the corner, unnoticed.

"Ella!" Rick called. "There's a young man here for you!"

The woman named Beth looked in the corner and noticed Kyoya. "Oh, hello!" she said, crossing over to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Elizabeth Flynn, Ella's mother."

"Kyoya Ootori, ma'am, a pleasure to meet you." He gave her one of his winning smiles.

Then suddenly there was an adolescent boy with messy blond hair in front of him, who looked exactly like his older sister. "You better be nice to Ella!" he said threateningly.

Kyoya's eyebrows raised. "Believe me, I have every intention of-"

"Kidding, kidding." The boy said. "Ella's boyfriends are always nice to her. I'm Ricky."

Kyoya laughed and shook the boy's hand. "Nice to meet you, Ricky."

Then, from a room in the back, there strode a tall, skinny girl who looked a little athletic but also like one of those stereotypical American models. "Ella said to tell you she'd be out in a minute. She can't find her purse."

"You must be Emma." He said.

"Yeah, how'd you know that?"

"Oh, she's mentioned all of you."

Emma approached him thoughtfully. "Huh. You are cute. Ella always did go for the smart guys." She said, poking his glasses.

He laughed and raised his eyebrows at the contact. "I believe I was warned about your teasing." He said.

"For a good reason." She smirked.

"I see." He said back.

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"Oh for god's sake, already, Emma?" came Ella's voice. Kyoya looked up.

She looked beautiful. He had never seen her in anything but their uniform and those shorts and shirt. That, and her stage outfit, but technically that wasn't Ella…

But her hair was perfect, her eyes shone, her smile was dazzling. The dress she was wearing fit her like a glove, and the color was perfect. The jacket and boots made her look styled effortlessly, and…kind of sexy. Yeah, he liked the boots…

"Ready, Kyoya?" she grinned at him.

He nodded. She opened the door and walked out of it, and he followed, turning back to address her family, "Lovely meeting you all!" he called before shutting the door behind him.

She stood on tiptoe to peck him on the lips. "Hope they didn't bother you too much." She said.

"Not at all." He laughed. "I quite enjoyed your family, they're a lot like you."

She giggled. "You're too sweet."

"You look beautiful, by the way." He said, smiling dreamily down at her.

She blushed. "Too sweet." She repeated, kissing him again.

"Shall we go?" he said.

"Let's." she grinned as they started, arm in arm, down the stairs.

**There you go! I might make a second half to this one. **

**In other news SEMESTER ONE IS OVER! XD That means no more PreCalc which means more writing time yaaaay! **

**~FeatherSong**


	15. Merry Christmas, Host Club!

**Back! It's been a while. LOL so my English class, though not Honors, is super hard. We have outlines. Shudder. So less time for writing:( **

**Sorry I didn't write the actual date, I started to and it wasn't much to go on. They had a wonderful time, kay?:) Wrote this cuz I was watching the Nightmare Before Christmas and I felt inspired. It is out of season. Oh well.**

The Host Club was buzzing as usual, throngs of girls at the tables, snacks and tea floating around. What was different about today? Only the way they were dressed. Kyoya looked around and chuckled at the costuming. It was interesting…

A week ago, Ella had come in in a flurry, practically bleeding cheer.

"What makes you so chipper today? He asked amcably.

"It's only a week until Christmas!" Ella cried giddily. "There's so much to do! My apartment is all decorated, the tree is up…" she trailed off dreamily.

Kyoya chuckled. He had never seen so much joy coming from one person. It was like she was glowing, exuding some kind of pure and special happiness…it suited her.

"What's there to get excited about?" Hikaru asked boredly. "It's just presents."

"And some religious story about a baby, isn't it just like any other religious day?" Kaouru added.

"Oh, but it's so much more than that!" cried Tamaki, suddenly appearing.

"Where did he come from…" mumbled Haruhi.

"Renge, s'il vous plait?" he asked. Right on cue, Renge emerged on her platform.

"Christmas!" she cried. "The time of year for caring about others, for giving, for love, for peace on earth! She went on dreamily. "It's unexplainable, the feeling of the season, it's just…just…well it just gives you the warm fuzzies!" she gushed.

"Must be a western culture thing." Hikaru said, still bored.

Renge went on, ignoring him. "Even I'm going home for the holidays. I'll be leaving for France at the end of this week!"

"That's too bad, you'll miss the festivities!" Ella said.

"We're having festivities?" Honey asked excitedly.

"A Christmas party, what a wonderful idea!" Tamaki enthused. "I do miss the joyful atmosphere of spending Christmas with friends…" he hugged himself dreamily and stared off into space.

Kyoya had been putting this off for ages…but how could he have said no when it made Ella so happy? So here they were, dressed to the nines in Christmas apparel…Surprisingly the girls were more familiar with some of the traditions than he expected.

"My Tamaki, you're such a different Santa…" said one of the girls. "Can I sit on your lap?" She giggled.

"Of course, my dear! Ho ho ho!" He sure was into it. Not very surprising.

"Oh, and Haruhi, you make such a cute little elf!"

"Yeah, those pointy ears and shoes are just adorable!"

"Well thanks ladies!" she smiled. She seemed to be enjoying this too; perhaps the glow really was as infective as it seemed.

The twins were not quite as happy. "Why do we have to be reindeer?" Kaouru whined.

"Yeah, this is degrading." Hikaru agreed.

"Hush Prancer, hush Vixen!" Tamaki commanded.

"Hell-ooooooo ladies!" chirped Honey, holding out a plate of gingerbread cookies. "Would you like some cookies? I decorated them myself!"

"I'd love some Honey!"

"Although I'd rather just eat you up, you look just like them, what a cute gingerbread costume!"

"And Mori, you don't even move, what a convincing snowman!"

Kyoya chuckled again. Yes, yes. The girls were enjoying this.

"Hello, my sweet little Nutcracker!" came a Ella's voice from behind him. Her arms wrapped around him as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Technically, I'm the Nutcracker Prince." He said, turning around. His eyes widened. She was in a purple tutu, her hair was done up, she was wearing a tiara…she was sparkling. All over.

"And you are a fantastic Sugar Plum Fairy, my dear." He said, eyes still wide.

She giggled and blushed.

"I have something for you." She pulled something from the table behind her. "It's not really much, but…"

He opened the box to find a lovely, albeit rather sparkly, pair of star cufflinks. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"They're truly lovely, thank you Ella." He pulled a box out of his own pocket. "I got you something too."

"You did?" she grinned. "You didn't have to…"

"Nonsense." He smiled. "Open it."

She did. "Oh, Kyoya…" her eyes shone. "It's beautiful…"

It was a star necklace, with a sort of Pandora's Box design on the side.

"Very coincidental, don't you think?" he chuckled again.

"Very." She giggled, giving him a kiss on the lips. "Merry Christmas, Kyoya."

"Merry Christmas, Ella."

**Sorry this one was so short, I'm sick and spent:-/ Have an excellent one coming soon, personal favorite! See you then!**

**~FeatherSong**


	16. The Puertura Charm

**Hey guys, FeatherSong here. I decided to edit this chapter, because due to the development of my other story, things have changed. So yeah, this chapter is still weird, and is set before anybody met Ella. OoOoOoOooo!**

The Host Club was gathered around, doing nothing in particular as usual. These "meetings" when they weren't hosting were pretty much useless usually, unless they were struck with a sudden whim of cosplay, or needed new teacups or something.

It was a particularly quiet day: Nobody was really talking. Haruhi sat on the windowledge reading a book, and the twins were lounging in a corner of the room playing on their handhelds, from which came the occasional "beep, beep." Honey was happily eating cake at his little table, with Mori silently sitting across from him. Kyoya was going over his books, and Tamaki was…Tamaki was…

Kyoya looked up curiously. Where _was_ Tamaki?

"MOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!"

Oh. _There_ he was.

"MOMMY HELP!" The whole club looked up curiously at the apparently horror-stricken Tamaki, holding up what appeared to be some kind of dark something-or-other piece of jewelry.

"What is that?" Kyoya asked, eyebrow raised.

"I DON'T KNOOOOOWWWW!" Tamaki cried. "One of those Black Magic Club people threw it at me in the hall and ran away laughing!"

The boys (and Haruhi) all exchanged slightly concerned and skeptical looks.

Then there was the door, and Nekozowa. "Ah, I see you have acquired the Puertura Charm. It should make for a quite interesting day." He laughed darkly. "Quite interesting indeed…" he faded back into the other room.

"No, wait!" Tamaki yelled desperately. "What does it do?!"

There was a bit of an awkward pause.

"Well," Mori said. "I guess we'll find out."

After that pretty much everyone went back to what they had been doing, except for Tamaki, who began pacing the room nervously, biting his thumbnail, as was his nervous habit. He was muttering to himself incoherently. It went on for maybe fifteen minutes, before they all heard a sound coming from the table where Tamaki had placed the charm. Everybody froze. The sounds of beeping and chewing stopped; it's possible nobody breathed.

Haruhi broke the silence with a nervous laugh. "I'm sure it was nothing."

Everybody nodded and went back to what they were doing. Except for Tamaki, that is. Tamaki stared, wide-eyed and unmoving, at the charm, for a good five minutes. Finally, Haruhi sighed and closed the book.

"Senpai, honestly, I'm sure it was nothing. It's probably just another elaborate trick." She shot a glance at the twins, who held up their hands in innocence.

"Yeah, Tama-chan." Honey put in. "Every time you think something weird is happening involving that club, it turns out to just be nothing. So don't worry, kay?"

There was no response from Tamaki. He didn't even move.

Haruhi hit her head and looked over. "Kyoya-senpai? Help?"

Kyoya sighed and looked up. "Tamaki, I really don't think that—"

Suddenly, there came the sound of a door opening. Everybody stopped dead and stared at it.

In peeked a young girl, about fourteen or fifteen. She was wearing a floral skirt and a denim button-down with boots, as opposed to the Ouran Uniform. She had long, straight blond hair and chocolate brown eyes, and she looked confused and lost.

Tamaki's Host instincts immediately kicked in, his fear forgotten.

"Come in, my dear," he said smoothly. "Don't be shy." He held out a welcoming hand. "What a precious thing, why you're like a lost little lamb." The club quickly caught on and fell into position behind him. "Come, little lamb, and roam our fields of beauty!" They all smiled.

The girl did not move. She stared with wide eyes, first at Tamaki, then in turn at each of them, her eyes darting around incredulously.

"What's the matter, my dear?" Tamaki asked, still laying on the charm.

Finally, she spoke. "Wow…this is weird."

Tamaki's eye twitched, and he struggled to keep up his calm and charming demeanor as he spoke. "I'm sorry…" he laughed uncomfortably. "Weird? You think our club is…is weird?" The rest of the club eyed him warily.

Her eyes widened, and she blinked twice, as if just coming into her surroundings. "What? Oh, no, your…your club is fine, uh…Tamaki, just…_wow _is this…weird…how did I get here?!"

"How…how did you know my name?" Tamaki asked, eyes wide.

Her eyes widened again. "Oh, uh…" she bit her lip. "I…have a feeling I'm not supposed to say…"

"Do you…I mean…is it just me?"

"What? Oh no, I know all your names. That's Haruhi, and Kyoya, and Hikaru and Kaouru, and Honey and Mori."

Tamaki did nothing. His eye just twitched.

Haruhi jumped in with a save. "Well, since you know all our names, what's yours?"

She giggled nervously. "It's…Kotoko."

Her eyebrows shot up. "That was my mom's name."

Kotoko tucked her hair behind her hair and blushed, looking away. "I know."

And with that, Haruhi was out too.

Kyoya pushed his glasses up. "Well this is interesting." He said.

"Mommy? What…does all this…mean?" Tamaki stammered.

"Well—"

Before Kyoya could continue, the door opened again, and another girl came in, shyly hiding behind it, looking around with bright blue eyes.

Once she caught sight of Kyoya, she came running right towards him. "Daddy!" she cried, sounding scared. Her curly jet black hair went flying behind her, and her little pink dress rippled around her as she jumped into his surprised arms. He was confused, but he held the whimpering child and patted her head regardless. "What on earth is going on?!" he exclaimed, his face as surprised as he'd ever seen it.

"Kyoya?! Have you been keeping secrets from me?" Tamaki cried.

"I've never seen this child before in my life!" Kyoya assured him.

"What?" the little girl (perhaps five or six) pulled her head off of his shoulder and looked at him tearfully.

Kyoya looked at her tenderly, surprising himself and the whole club. "No, no please don't cry, little one." He hugged her to him again. "Shhhh."

They all looked at each other in sheer disbelief.

"Soooooo WEIRD!" Kotoko exclaimed.

"Do you know what's going on here?!" Kyoya whispered, exasperated.

"Well…yes, but I'm not really sure I should say…"

"Okay, but do you know who this is?"

"Uhm…yeah."

"Well?!"

"I can't say!"

"Well why the hell not?!"

"Daddy?" the little girl interrupted. "Please stop yelling."

"Of course, darling." He said.

"Kyoya, where did that come from!?" Kaouru asked, shocked.

"I honestly don't know!" he whispered. He then turned back to Kotoko. "At least tell me her name."

"Miroki." She said.

"Surprise princess?" Kyoya said to himself in wonder. "Strange name…"

"Hey!" the little girl looked up again. "How did you know my name?"

Kotoko smiled sweetly at her. "It's me, Miroki. Kotoko."

Miroki gasped. "But Kotoko, how did you get so big?!"

She sighed. "I really don't know…"

Everybody, including Kyoya, was at a loss for words. Of course, before anybody could ask anything more, the door opened again, and a set of strawberry blond twins came running in. They stared at everyone. Everyone stared at them. They had golden brown eyes, and one wore shorts and a tee shirt with a cat on it, while the other wore a salmon coverall dress with a red bow belt. They cocked their heads to the side, and then looked at each other in unison.

"Cool." They said together.

"Oh my god, this is too much." Kotoko seemed at a loss. She ran a hand through her hair in exasperation, and plopped into the nearest chair.

"Will somebody PLEASE explain what's going on?" Haruhi asked.

"Well," said the less girly twin. "I'd say it's fairly obvious, wouldn't you, Taylor?"

"You're right, Zura." Taylor (the girlier twin) said. "We must have traveled back in time, to that club daddy and his friends were in in High School."

Zura nodded. "And a younger version of Miroki somehow came with us."

"And that looks like an older version of Kotoko." Taylor turned to her. "Kotoko, that you?"

Kotoko hit her head and nodded.

Taylor looked around. "Is Matsuko here too?"

Kotoko shook her head no, head still in her hand.

Zura looked around the other way. "No Akihiko either?"

She looked up and laughed tiredly at this. "No, thank god. And before you ask, no Ariana or Aiko either."

At this, the two little girls seemed pacified, and set to mumbling between themselves.

The rest of the club, who had been standing, listening to the conversation with their mouths agape, seemed as though they had all been hit over the head with baseball bats.

"Hold—hold on." Haruhi stammered, turning to Kotoko. "You mean to tell us…that you guys…are—are our kids?!"

Kotoko blushed and nodded.

"So…" Kaouru began. "So, Miroki is obviously Kyoya's…"

Kyoya looked thoughtfully at the little girl in his arms, having had time to regain his normal composure. "Well, she does bear somewhat of a resemblance, I must admit. Although her name has me a bit perplexed."

"You think my name is funny, Daddy?" the little girl pouted.

Kyoya chuckled. "Of course not, my dear. I was just wondering why it means 'Surprise Princess.'"

She gave him a look of confusion. "Mommy says it's because you were surprised to have me, because you only wanted one baby, but then you got me and you were happy because I'm your little princess!"

His eyebrows went up. "You have a sister?"

Miroki nodded. "Uh huh! A little one and a big one!"

Kyoya's eyes widened. "Three children?" he said to himself. "I really thought I was dead set on just one…and…wait..." He looked back at his apparent daughter suddenly. "Miroki, darling, what is Mommy's name?"

"Uhh…" the girl thought hard, then frowned. "I can't remember…"

Kyoya frowned pensively.

"Okay, that's great." Hikaru interrupted. "Now where did these three come from?"

"Well," Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, turning back to the group. "I think it's fairly obvious that Kotoko is Tamaki's: Aside from the color of her eyes, she looks just like him."

Tamaki turned to Kotoko with teary, dramatic eyes. "Is this…true? Are you…my daughter, lovely young lady?"

Kotoko rolled her eyes. "Wow, Dad, even in high school you were like this?"

A grin split Tamaki's face and his eyes brimmed over with tears as he grabbed his daughter into a tight hug. "LOOK AT THIS MY OWN LOVELY BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL, A REAL DAUGHTER!"

"Dad…you're…crushing…me…!"

Kyoya chuckled. "And, quite interesting, Haruhi, that she was named after your mother, don't you think?"

She laughed nervously. "I mean, that could be a coincidence…"

"And her eyes, they are the same color as yours. Her face is shaped exactly the same as well."

Haruhi turned bright red, unable to think of anything to say.

"Once again, FANtastic," Hikaru said, seeming a bit more annoyed. "But what about these two?"

"Well the fact that they're twins, as twins seem to run in families, as well as the red tint to their hair and the color of their eyes, suggest that they're one of yours." Kyoya stated.

"Well, yeah." Hikaru said.

"But which one?" they both asked.

"Our daddy is the one married to lady." They both said.

Hikaru laughed. "Well, I would hope so."

"Which one is that?" asked Kaouru.

The two looked at each other, then back at the two, and shrugged.

"Greeeaaaat." the older twins said.

"Waaaait!" Honey cried. "Who are Matsuko and Akihiko and Ariana and Aiko?"

"Well," Kotoko said, pulling herself from Tamaki's grasp. "Akihiko is my little brother." (At this statement Haruhi blushed herself into a corner.)

Tamaki's eyes widened even more, if that's possible. "THAT NAME MEANS PRINCELY CHILD WHAT A PERFECT NAME I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!"

Kotoko rolled her eyes.

"And Ariana and Aiko are my sisters!" Miroki cried, squirming her way out of Kyoya's arms and proceeding to spin in circles for no apparent reason. "Ariana is one year bigger than me, and Aiko is one year littler!"

"Matsuko is Mori's son." Kotoko continued. Mori raised his eyebrows, but gave no other response.

Kyoya plopped down in the chair opposite Kotoko. "Three girls…" he trailed off, obviously a bit beside himself.

"They're all really sweet and well behaved, if it helps." Kotoko said comfortingly.

He smiled at her. "I'm just glad there aren't any boys."

Kotoko nodded her understanding.

"Though I am terribly curious, who do I end up married to?"

Kotoko smirked. "Nope. I'm convinced messing with the future is a bad idea, my lips are sealed."

Honey woke up in the club room and rubbed his eyes. Everything was totally quiet and normal. "What a funny dream!" he giggled.

**Kay! Glad I fixed this chapter, it's been bugging me for a while. Well, if you want to read more on these guys, check out Ouran: The Next Generation!**

**Sorry for the deus ex machina ending! You can review if you want, tell me if anything makes zero sense, I don't mind fixing it again!**


	17. New Year's Eve with the Host Club

**Heya! It feels like it's been a while! I've been working on my other story, I apologize for kinda neglecting this one^^' (You should read it! It's a sorta-continuation on this one! Insert awkward plug here!) Anyway, I've been excited about this one-shot for a while now! I wanted to wait until I had time to do it juuuuust right. So, now that I do, here it is!**

"Bye! Have a wonderful break!" Tamaki yelled to the twins as they left.

"Let's go, you idiot, or the next time your driver is sick I'll make you walk home." Kyoya said to Tamaki. It had been the last day before break, and the Host Club had met and disassembled. Tamaki and Kyoya were just leaving, and Haruhi and Ella were the only ones left.

"Haruhiiiiii, are you sure you don't want a ride home? It's really chilly, it's supposed to snow later."

"No, it's fine Tamaki." she chuckled. "It's not so bad, plus I need to stop for groceries. And I was gonna walk with Ella."

Kyoya furrowed his eyebrows. "Ella, why are you walking?"

"My parents are out of town." she said with a smile and a shrug.

"Do you want a ride?"

She giggled. "Nope. It's girl time." she put her arm around Haruhi, who laughed and rolled her eyes.

Kyoya smiled nodded his understanding, not bothering to question her further, then turned to Tamaki. "Seriously now, let's go. My driver is being paid, but it's still common courtesy not to keep him waiting."

"Oh, alright." he gave Haruhi a peck on the lips and hugged her tight. "I will see you sooooooon, my love!" he half-sang.

"Alright, alright, I love you too, you big idiot. Now quit keeping Kyoya-senpai waiting." she said, pushing him off of her.

Meanwhile, Kyoya bent down to give Ella a long kiss. He pulled away and looked into her eyes, smiling. He took her chin in his hand and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I'll call you later." he said.

"Not tonight." she said. "Tonight I am Princess of Hearts!" she gave him a silly grin, making him chuckle and kind of glow inside. Every single thing she did was just so cute.

"Alright. Tomorrow then." he gave her one last kiss, then grabbed Tamaki and dragged him away from Haruhi and out the door.

"Should we go too, then?" Ella said to Haruhi.

"Yeah, probably." she said. "Tamaki's right, it is supposed to snow tonight, I'd rather be home before that starts."

Ella nodded her agreement, picking up her bag. "So, did I hear correctly? Was that a mutual "I love you" back there?" she smiled slyly.

Haruhi looked down and blushed, smiling in spite of herself. "Yeah…that was kind of declared recently. Tamaki tried to make it this whole big over the top thing, and stumbled all over himself…" she smiled, reminiscing.

_It was about the fourth time Tamaki had tried something fancy…roses, chocolates, and flowers…some plane with botched skywriting…a billboard that fell down…and now this, something spelled out in the meal…which Tamaki had accidentally knocked off the table. With him laying on the ground, surrounded by the tablecloth and flowers and food, sputtering and flustered, she couldn't help it…_

"_Tamaki, I love you." she said through her laughter._

_He stopped and looked up suddenly, shocked. "Wha…what did you just say?" he said in disbelief._

_Haruhi stopped abruptly and her eyes went wide. She blushed and covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said. "Uhh…"_

_He got over his initial shock and stood, somewhat clumsily, half-kneeling beside Haruhi where she sat. He kissed her passionately, shutting her shocked eyes and fading her blush a bit. _

"_I love you too." he breathed, pulling away._

_She didn't know how to react…they stared into each other's eyes for a minute before Tamaki kissed her again…_

"Wow…so romantic!" Ella gushed.

Haruhi laughed. They were just outside the grounds now, all bundled up and heading home. "So why are you home all alone?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, my family wanted to go home for New Year's. But I had this concert tonight, so I stayed here. They didn't want to leave me, especially not Ricky and my mom, but I convinced them it was fine."

"Oh wow, so your entire family is back in America?"

"Yup. I have the apartment all to myself. They'll be home in a week."

"So wait," Haruhi said. "How are you getting to your concert tonight?"

"Oh, I'll probably just take a cab or something." she shrugged.

"Where is it?"

"It's all the way out near the ski resorts and stuff. It'll probably take all night to get there." she giggled. "I probably won't be back until next year."

"What?" Haruhi asked, confused. Then she laughed. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot it's New Year's Eve!" then her expression changed. "Aw, you mean you don't have anyone to spend it with?"

Ella shrugged. "Well, I have my fans, but yeah, when the year changes I'll probably just have the cab driver to celebrate with. It does sound a little sad, but not so bad really. Besides, it's worth it."

"Hmm." Haruhi said, thoughtful.

_Later…_

Ella was all ready to go. Her dressing bag was all packed: wig, dress, boots, stockings, makeup, the works. She liked to change there, so she could slip in and out without being mobbed. She was just about to call for a cab when she got a text message from Kyoya.

_"Look outside."_ it read.

Well, the first thing she noticed was the two or three inches of snow that already covered the ground. But then she looked at what was on the ground…

There, on the sidewalk, sat a sleigh. Like a real, actual, horse-drawn sleigh. There were two magnificent black horses pulling it, and the sleigh itself was a dark blue with golden detailing. But that wasn't the best part. The best part was who was in it. There were two rows of seats: In the front, Kaouru was driving. Hikaru sat next to him, and Mori sat with Honey in his lap on the other side. In the back, Tamaki sat with his arm around Haruhi's waist, and Kyoya sat next to her, clearly saving a seat for Ella. They all waved up at her excitedly. She waved back, ecstatic, and held up a finger to tell them she'd be down in a minute.

"_Oh my god, what is going on."_ she thought to herself as she wrapped her scarf around her nek and pulled her hat and gloves on, running down the stairs and out the door.

"Hi, Ella!" the Host Club said as she hopped into the sleigh, sliding over Kyoya to sit between him and Haruhi.

"Guys!" she laughed. "What's going on?"

"Haru-chan told Kyo-chan about how you didn't have anyone to spend New Year's Eve with but a cab driver," Honey said.

"So he called us." Hikaru said.

"And made arrangements to get all this." Kaouru added, indicating the horses and sleigh.

Ella looked up at Kyoya with dreamy, wide eyes. He looked at her with a small soft smile. "Kyoya…" she whispered in awe. She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, hard, surprising him. "Thank you. So much." she grinned, and he shrugged, doing his best to hide his proud smile. She turned to everyone else. "All of you."

Hikaru and Kaouru shrugged. "We were looking for something to do tonight anyway."

"Yeah." Mori agreed.

"And we all have fun with you, Ellie-chan!"

"Aww, thank you Honey!"

"My dad wanted to go out with his friends from work, and he never would have if it meant leaving me home alone." Haruhi said.

"And your concerts are wonderful, what better way is there to spend New Year's Eve?" Tamaki added.

"Wow. You guys are all so great..." Ella said, glowing. She couldn't believe everything these guys would do for her.

"Well, I think we'd better get going." Kaouru said.

"Yeah, don't wanna be late for your concert, Ella!" Hikaru agreed.

Kyoya smiled and slipped his arm around Ella as Kaouru started up the horses.

"You're perfect." Ella said, smiling up at him.

He smiled back down at her softly. He couldn't exactly agree with what she said, he knew he had his flaws, but to be perfect in the eyes of this perfect girl meant more to him than he ever could have expected. "Only when I'm with you." he said.

Her eyes shone, and her smile got wider. She kissed his cheek then cuddled close to him, leaning against his chest. To see her so happy…well, he'd never felt happier.

"Ellie-chan, isn't your concert tonight sold out?" Honey asked suddenly.

"Yes it is, Honey, why?"

"Well, where are we gonna sit?"

She laughed. "Don't worry. You guys all have backstage passes from now on."

"Yaaaaay!" Honey cried, making Ella giggle the way Kyoya loved so much.

_Later…_

"Heart" ran offstage, crowd cheering. "Thank you so much! Goodnight and Happy New Year!" she called.

"That was great, Ella!" Haruhi cried.

"So fantastic." The twins chorused in agreement.

"Exquisite!" Tamaki cried.

"Yaaaaay Ellie-chaaaan!" Honey cried, jumping from Mori's arms to hang from her neck in a hug.

"Aw, gee, thanks you guys!" she looked around. "Where's Kyoya?"

They all grinned. "He wanted to, ah…meet you in your dressing room." Kaouru said.

Ella gave them a suspicious glance as she walked by. "What are you guys up to…" they didn't answer, so she continued down the hall and to her dressing room.

She opened the door. "Kyoya?" she called. She didn't see anyone…

Suddenly she was surrounded by a pair of arms, a bouquet of blue roses held in front of her.

"Wonderful show." his voice sounded in her ear. "Brava."

She took the flowers and turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. She grinned as she pulled away. "Thank you."

"Mm, thank _you_." he said, still dazed from the kiss.

She giggled. "I hate to do it, but I'll have to ask you to leave. I need to change." she was still grinning as she pushed him out the door. "Two minutes." she said, giving him a peck on the lips.

"I'll be waiting." he said as she shut the door.

"Awww, soooo cute!" the twins chorused behind him.

He turned and rolled his eyes. "The sleigh is ready?"

"Yup."

"Aww, Kyo-chan, you're so romantic with Ellie-chan! It's fun to watch!"

"Mitskuni. That's rude." Mori chastised, clearly not meaning it (as he was smiling).

"It's alright." Kyoya chuckled.

"In that case, OHHH KYOYA THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE, SUPER ADORABLE, SUPER MEGA ADORABLE!" Tamaki cried, hugging him.

"Get off of me, you idiot." he laughed, pushing Tamaki away.

"I have to say, Kyoya, a few months ago I wouldn't have believed it if I saw it." Haruhi said. "She's really been great for you."

He smiled, gazing off somewhere distant. "She really has, hasn't she?" he said, more to himself than to her.

The dressing room door opened to reveal Ella, changed back into what she had come wearing.

"Shall we go?" she said with a smile.

Outside, they ran into a problem.

"Uh-oh." Mori said.

"What's wrong, Takashi?" Honey asked.

"It snowed a lot more than expected, huh?" Hikaru said nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh no, the horses will never make it all the way home in this…" Kaouru agreed. It looked like it had gotten to five or even six inches while they were inside.

"That's alright, they don't have to." Kyoya said cooly. Everybody looked at him curiously. "My family has a vacation home not far from here, we can all just stay there for tonight. It should be well stocked, my sister was there not too long ago."

"Alright! Host Club New Year's Eve party!" Tamaki said excitedly. Everybody seemed to share his enthusiasm.

"I'll just call my dad and let him know," Haruhi said as they all climbed into the sleigh. "He'll understand, he's probably stuck wherever he is too."

"Yeah, and I'm sure my parents would understand too." Ella said. "They trust me."

"Alright, it's settled then. Let's go!" Kaouru said, starting up the horses.

"_This should be fun."_ Ella thought.

**Aaaaaaandd...TO BE CONTINUED! :D Gahhhhh, I am SOOOOO excited to write the next part, it's my personal favorite. I will get to it AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. YOU GUYS ARE FANTASTIC!**

**~FeatherSong**


	18. Happy New Year, Host Club!

**Back again! Sorry it's been so long, I was assigned a research paper, so...yeah. THE GOOD NEWS IS the year is winding down, I only have to take one final (if you can even count Computer Generated Art as an actual final), and after that it's SUMMERSUMMERSUMMERSUMMERSUMMER. Which means lots more writing for my dear readers!**

**Anyway, enough about me. Here's that continuation you were promised, and you should know that I'VE BEEN WAITING TO WRITE THIS ONE SINCE I STARTED THIS STORY. Nbd. Here ya go!**

"We're here!" Kaouru said, turning around and smiling as he brought the horses to a stop.

"Yay yay yaaaay!" Honey yelled as he hopped out of the sleigh and ran towards the house.

"Wait, Mitskuni." Mori yelled, running after him. "Kyoya hasn't unlocked the door yet."

Ella giggled as Kyoya helped her out of the sleigh. "So cute." she said, looking after Honey.

Tamaki helped Haruhi down on the other side. "Wow, Senpai." Haruhi said, gazing at Kyoya's house. "This house is pretty impressive."

It was a sort of decked out log cabin: Three stories, with a large section of the low slanted roof entirely made of glass. Its chimney suggested a large fireplace. It sort of looked like a Lincoln Log mansion.

"Thank you." he said.

"Kyoya, where do we put the horses?" Kaouru asked.

"The stables are over that way." Kyoya said, pointing towards a smaller building about the size of Haruhi's apartment. "You can put them together and give them some hay. The cover for the sleigh is inside, you'll see where it belongs. I'm sorry the place isn't staffed, I'd call them to do it if it were."

The twins saluted. "Yes sir!"

By the time the four of them reached the front door, Honey was jumping up and down. "Itscolditscolditscold!"

Kyoya chuckled. "Hold on, Honey." he quickly stuck the keys in and unlocked the door.

Honey ran into the still dark house. "Yaaaay!"

Kyoya chuckled again as he walked in after and flicked on the lights.

The interior of the house was as grand as the exterior. There was the main hall, with a large window over the door and a grand staircase leading upstairs. The place was well decorated with paintings, and a small, simple candelabra chandelier hung from the ceiling.

Ella tugged on his sleeve (which he thought was adorable). "Yes?" he said, turning to face her.

"Do you mind if I use your shower?" she asked. "I'm kinda cold, and I'd like to get this makeup off of me."

"Of course. The nearest one is all the way down the hall and through the bedroom."

"Thanks." she grinned, turning to go.

Kyoya looked after her, smiling. Then, involontarily, he thought about what state she was about to be in in his home…

He blushed, gulped, and shoved the idea from his mind. "_Bad. No." _he chastised himself.

Ella wandered down the hallway, looking around in wonder. "_It's like a maze in here."_ she thought. There were so many different doors and so many halls to turn down. "_How could one place possibly be this big? It's a good thing he told me to go straight…"_

After what seemed like forever, she finally reached the end of the hallway, and opened the last door.

The room behind the door was huge, though simply decorated. It was all neutral colors, with some accents of dull blue. There was one queen sized bed, and a large rug underneath, separating it from the hardwood floors. There was a desk in the corner with a lamp, and a small dresser. _"I wonder whose room this is…"_ she wondered to herself. She attempted to shake off the urge to snoop, but her curiosity got the better of her. She crept over to the desk, and slid open one drawer. Empty. The one underneath was empty too, and so was the one underneath that. She was about to shut it and give up when she noticed something peculiar…the bottom of the drawer seemed to be out of place.

She looked a bit harder, and found that the drawer should be a lot deeper…she gave the bottom a little tug, and her suspicions were confirmed: false bottom. She pulled it out, and underneath there was a little cardboard box. Once again, she tried to be a good girl and leave it alone, but she just couldn't.

What was in the box made her grin so wide her cheeks hurt. They were pictures. A lot of them were earlier ones of Kyoya and Tamaki, clearly from middle school; the two of them at the beach; some kind of castle; the Great Wall of China….

And then there were some later ones, from high school. There were a two group shots of the Host Club: one from before Haruhi joined, and one after. There was Tamaki with what looked to be a very annoyed Haruhi, the twins with the same annoyed Haruhi, Honey hanging from Mori's neck…

The pictures made her smile because this proved what she already knew, but suspected the club didn't: Kyoya cared about them all. A lot.

That, and they confirmed that this was his room. Curiosity sated, she carefully put the box back, replaced the false drawer bottom, shut the drawer, and headed for the bathroom to start the shower.

_Meanwhile…_

The Host Club was gathered in Kyoya's medium (for them) sized living room. Hikaru and Kaouru sat next to each other on the large couch, arms draped over the back. Mori sat on the same couch with a somewhat squirmy Honey on his lap. Tamaki sat in the middle with Haruhi, who had opted to sit on the floor, at his feet. Kyoya sat by himself in an armchair to the side.

"So what are we doing tonight?" Hikaru asked, clearly bored.

"Yeah, it's New Year's Eve, that means party." Kaouru agreed.

"I'm kinda hungry…" Honey said. He turned to Kyoya with big eyes and a hopeful smile. "Do we have snacks, Kyo-chan?"

"Yeah, Kyoya, I'm feeling kind of pekish too." Tamaki said.

"Hm." Kyoya said thoughtfully. "Fuyumi was just here, and her children do love sweets, so I'm sure there's something here for you, Honey. As for the rest of us, I'm not sure. You see, normally we have servants here to prepare the food…"

"Oooh! Oooh! Haru-chan and me could make it, couldn't we, Haru-chan?" Honey asked Haruhi, excited.

"Well, sure, I don't see why not." Haruhi said, getting up.

"Yaay!" Honey cried. "It'll be just like that time we made crab, except this time nobody's gonna throw up, kay? I'll make extra super sure!"

She laughed. "Okay, Honey-senpai. Let's go."

_Meanwhile…_

Ella wandered back down the hall, wringing her wet hair out with her hands. She giggled as she looked down at herself: She had accidently left her clothes in the bathroom while she showered, and they had gotten all wet from the condensation. So she had gone into Kyoya's drawers and borrowed a denim button down. It fit her like a dress. She kept it fitted to her waist with the belt from her Heart costume.

She was headed towards the main hall, where she had come in, but then smelled something coming from behind what looked like a swinging door a few yards from the staircase. It smelled delicious, like nachos…

She walked in to find Haruhi, Honey, and Mori cooking away in the kitchen. Haruhi was taking, as Ella had suspected, nachos out of the oven. Meanwhile, Honey was sitting crosslegged on the counter, messily mixing a bowl of batter. Mori, covered in flour, turned from greasing a pan and grabbed the bowl from him. "That's enough, Mitskuni." he poured the batter into the pan.

"What's going on here, guys?" Ella asked, smiling.

"Oh, hi Ella!" Haruhi said with a smile. "We're just making some snacks for our little impromptu New Year's Eve party.

"Oh great!" Ella exclaimed, instantly pulling out a frying pan. "I'd bake some cookies, but I think Honey and Mori have the sweets covered. I do have a great dip my mom taught me to make, though."

"By all means, join the fun." Haruhi said as she spooned some sour cream on top of the nachos.

"Yeah, Ellie-chan, the more the merrier!" Honey giggled.

_Meanwhile…_

"Oh, this is going to be so much FUN!" Tamaki gushed. "You know, I've never actually been to a non-formal party. Oh, I bet we can play commoner's games all night!"

"Yeah, come to think of it, we've never been to one either." The twins said.

"Well, coming from our inherited social standing, that's not really much of a surprise. Our formal upbringing would suggest only formal family parties, and the nature of the interpersonal relationships we're expected to have does not indicate the kind of intimacy usually achieved at, as you say, "commoner" parties."

"Yet here we are!" Tamaki gushed. He patted the couch next to him. "Now come over here Kyoya and be intimate with your friends!"

"That doesn't sound the way you intended it, I'm sure…" Kyoya mumbled, getting up and moving over nonetheless.

Just as he sat down, the rest of the party came strolling in carrying food. "Weeee're baaaaaack!" Honey cried happily. He led the parade, carrying a tray of cupcakes in each hand. "This kind's vanilla with chocolate icing, and this kind's chocolate with vanilla icing!" he said. He was followed by Mori, who carried a tray of cookies in each hand, and had large cake balancing on his head.

"Ta-da." he monotoned.

Mori was followed by Haruhi, who was carrying a large tray of nachos which she set in the center of the table. "I did the best I could with what I had." she said modestly. "I made the guacamole myself, I hope it's good. I've never actually tried making it before.

"I'm sure whatever you made will be delicious, my dear!" Tamaki enthused, kneeling instantly and taking some.

"And I made buffalo chicken dip!" Ella said around the unopened bag of chips she carried in her mouth, as she walked in last carrying a steaming bowl in her hands. She set them down and looked up to Kyoya with one eyebrow raised.

"Is that my shirt?" he asked quizzically, maybe smiling a little.

"Um…yes." Ella smiled sheepishly. "I accidently left my clothes in the bathroom while I was showering…the vapor got them wet."

He chuckled at her. "It looks very nice." he said, admiring her figure. There was something he liked very much about her wearing his clothes…

"Come here." he held out his arms to her, and she obeyed his command and came to sit next to him, in his arms.

Once everyone had gotten some food, Hikaru and Kaouru spoke up again. "So now what?"

"Now we play wonderful commoner party games, like pin the tail on the donkey! Kyoya, I don't suppose you have a piñata, do you? Oh, no matter, we can make one!"

Ella giggled.

Tamaki stopped and looked at her, followed by everyone else. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Well, nothing I suppose." she said, still giggling. "Those games are commoner party games…if you're like, eight."

Tamaki balked. "What?! Impossible! At what age could pin the tail on the donkey possibly stop being fun?!"

Ella laughed again. "I'd say about ten or eleven."

"Whaaaaat?!" Tamaki retreated to a corner to sulk in exaggerated shadows.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Tamaki, get your butt back over here. I've been trying to tell you that for ages."

Tamaki came back and hid behind his girlfriend, still sulking. "So what could you commoners possibly do for fun at a party, after you pass that cursed age of eleven or twelve?"

"Well, I don't know about Japan," Ella said thoughtfully. "But in America we play gut-spilling kinds of games, stuff like Truth or Dare or Never Have I Ever. It can get pretty deep. Or pretty silly. Or both."

"Truth or Dare?" the twins asked, getting that mischievous edge to their voices. "That sounds like loads of fun…"

"I've never heard of the other one though." Haruhi said.

"Never Have I Ever? It's simple." Ella explained. "Everybody sits in a circle and hold up ten fingers. Then you go around, and each person says something they've never done. If anybody else in the circle HAS done it, they put a finger down. The last person standing wins."

Everybody but Haruhi seemed a little confused. Ella laughed. "Maybe we should just start with Truth or Dare."

"Works for us!" the twins said.

"But I'll have you know that I intend to play every commoner teenage party game there is!" Tamaki cried with determination.

Ella raised her eyebrows. "It's gonna be a looooong night, then." she said.

Two games of Never Have I Ever, one Seven Minutes in heaven (which mainly consisted of the couples going and making out somewhere and the twins making perverted sounds from the closet, probably trying to freak everyone out) a "HAPPY NEW YEAR!", and a very long game of Truth or Dare (standard take-off-an-article-of-clothing-if-you-refuse-a-da re rules in effect) later, Honey's underpants were on his head, Tamaki's shirt was across the room, and Mori's socks were both gone, as was the belt Ella had put across the shirt she had on. And Kyoya was down to his jeans and nothing else. The snacks were all but gone, and everyone was beginning to fall asleep.

Kyoya surveyed the room. Honey was asleep on Mori's lap, and Mori was snoring quietly. Haruhi was half asleep, leaning against Tamaki's legs, as he looked down at her and stroked her hair affectionately. The twins were playing on their Nintendos, and Ella…

He looked down and smiled, feeling that familiar warmth spreading from his chest outward through his whole body. She had fallen asleep leaning against his chest. He tightened his arm around her and placed a light kiss on her forehead. She was just so…

"WELP, this is enough lovey-dovey to choke a small mammal." Hikaru said sarcastically, interrupting Kyoya's train of thought. "I think we're gonna go to bed." he said. He and his brother got up and stretched. "We'll just be sleeping in our usual room for tonight, Kyoya."

Kyoya nodded. "Goodnight."

"Night!" Kaouru said for both of them.

A small sound came from the seat next to him. "Did I fall asleep?" Haruhi yawned.

Tamaki chuckled. "Almost, my dear."

She stood. "Well, I'm going to go to bed…is there any particular room I could use, Kyoya?"

"You could sleep in my room!" Tamaki said.

She rolled her eyes at him. "As if."

"There's a room next to Tamaki's you may use, if you'd like." he replied softly. "He'll show you the one."

"Alright, thanks Kyoya, goodnight." she said, heading up the stairs, followed by Tamaki.

He waved his reply, looking absently down at Ella, then around at the leftover food…he supposed he ought to clean this stuff up. But he went to get up, and there was Ella…she looked so sweet, innocent, peaceful…it would be almost a crime to disturb her…he picked her up, cradling her as he carried her down the hall to his room. He supposed he could just sleep in another guest room after he cleaned everything up, he didn't want to risk waking her by carrying her up the stairs.

He set her down in the bed and covered her with a blanket. He kissed pushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. His hand lingered in her hair for another moment, before he got up to leave. But just as his hand was about to leave her head, he felt her smaller one reach out and grab it.

"Kyoya. Wait…" she said, her voice heavy with sleep. He turned around, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, darling?" he whispered. "I'm sorry, I tried not to wake you…"

"This room is so big, and lonely, and dark…" she said. Did he hear underlying sadness?

"Will you stay with me?"she asked.

His eyes widened. He didn't know how to proceed…on the one hand, this was extremely inappropriate, and all his social breeding was screaming for him to politely refuse…but on the other hand, she seemed so small, so helpless, so...

"It's just…" she continued. "I'm used to sleeping in the same room as my sister…with my parents and brother, like, right down the hall…I don't want to be alone…."

He was still debating with himself. It wasn't like she was asking anything serious, but….

He was frozen, he really didn't know what to do….

"Kyoya…" she looked up at him, big blue eyes wide and pleading. "Please?"

That did it. He sighed, giving her a small smile. He crossed to the other side of the bed, set his glasses on the dresser, and crawled under the covers beside her. He wrapped his arms around her small frame, breathing in her intoxicating scent…and something about it felt very, very right.

She sighed happily. "Good night, Kyoya."

He smiled to himself. "Goodnight, Ella."

He was about to drift off himself, feeling as content as he thought possible, when he heard her voice again. It was barely audible, nothing more than a sighed whisper…

"Kyoya?"

"Mm?"

"…I love you."

He felt his heart stop for a second. And then it started right back up again, and he felt that warm feeling from earlier, except a million times better. She loved him…Ella loved him…

Something in his head reminded him that he should probably reply. "I…I love you too, Ella." he whispered, knowing as he said it exactly how true it was. Before he met her, his life had been diluted, the colors dull…and then she had come, and his world was bright and colorful as a summer day. She was everything to him. His whole world.

She sighed happily, rolling over and nuzzling into his chest. And he held her close to him as he drifted off…

And everything really was perfect.

**EEEEEEEEPP yay. Kyoya is such a gentleman. I do have an idea for the next one, but I wanna wait to write it so I'm not rushed. You guys probably won't hear from me until after the thirteenth, (last day of school) but know that I love you all in the meantime! Au revior, mes cheries!**

**~FeatherSong**


	19. Welcome, New First Year Guests!

**Look everyone! I'm back early! This is a short chapter, but here it is! It wasn't the one I was planning, but it's the start of something else I've been planning to do. You may be asking yourself: "What the heck is she talking about? FeatherSong is losing her mind!" Well, the answer is I lost it a while ago, and read on to find out!**

The bell rang after choir, the only class on Ella's new schedule that hadn't changed. New school year, new classes. It certainly was weird moving up a grade after winter break instead of after a summer break. It was just as weird to think that she was going to graduate half a year before her friends back home. It was weirder that Honey and Mori had already graduated. It made her a little sad that she wouldn't see them as often, but they were still going to come to the club three or four times a week, so it wasn't that bad.

Ahh, the Host Club. One thing that hadn't changed…the room was as predictably unpredictable as ever, with Haruhi sitting down to tea with Honey and Mori, the twins were playing keep-away with Tamaki's stuffed bear, and her dear Kyoya was scribbling away in his notebook as usual. She stopped and stared for a moment, just taking it all in. This place had very quickly become her home, even more so than her apartment. It was solid, safe, warm, and loving here.

She smiled and strode over to Kyoya's desk. "Hi there, cutie." she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and draping herself over him, looking at his writing.

"Hello, darling." she could hear his smile in his voice. He turned his head and gave her a peck on the lips before turning back to his notes. "How was your first day as a third year?"

"Pretty good. It was a little confusing trying to navigate the building alone, but I managed." she pouted. "I wish I still had a class with you."

He chuckled. "So do I, Ella." He stood up and kissed her forehead, then made his usual rounds: He walked by the twins, caught the bear in midair and threw it back onto the window-ledge it had been sitting on originally, flicked all three of them in the head, and walked to the front of the room, where they usually stood to greet. "Alright, you idiots." he said amicably. "You know what today is. It's open house for the new first years to explore the clubs, so there's going to be a lot of new girls in here today. Do NOT scare them. Don't be overbearing—that means you, Tamaki. Be welcoming, but bear in mind that some of these young ladies have never experienced anything like this before. Low-key. Understood?"

The Host Club saluted. "Yes sir!"

He turned to Ella. "And I'll need to ask you to do me a favor, my dear. Could you please go around and find out what kind of cosplay these girls might be interested in? I know you could do it tactfully without giving anything away. I'll be trying to get their names and preferred hosts, and greeting at the door as often as possible." He handed her a pink clipboard, grinning. "This is for you."

Ella nodded and grinned back. "Thank you, Kyoya! Of course. Do you want me to help with greeting too?"

Kyoya nodded. "If you could, that would be lovely." He checked his watch. "Alright everyone, here we go."

Ella pulled open the doors.

"_Welcome!"_

_Later…_

Ella flitted about the room, talking to girls, taking down names and notes on her official-feeling pink clipboard, occasionally catching Kyoya's eye from across the room and smiling. It was funny to see all of these girls before they had settled on a Host, buzzing to and fro, trying to decide their favorites.

"So Tamaki, what kind of music do you like?"

"Are those the new Nintendos? What kinds of games do you play?"

"Wow Honey, you must really love cake!"

"Haruhi, how does it feel to know that you set up a trend of more and more students getting Honors scholarships here?"

"Gee, Kyoya, why can't we sit with you?"

Her ears perked up at this. She wasn't jealous, but even so…

She heard his chuckle. "See that blonde girl over there?"

"The one with the clipboard? Yeah, what about her?"

"That's my girlfriend."

"…Oh. Haha. Sorry, I had no idea…"

"Quite alright."

Ella couldn't help but smile. She felt bad for the poor little first year; after all, she didn't know. But there was still so much pride in being that one girl for him…

One by one, the girls began to leave, until there was nobody left but the club. They all sat down and began some post-op conferring.

"Most of the girls seem pretty into detective stuff, you know, crime dramas and all that.

"I don't see how we'd turn that into cosplay." Hikaru said.

"Yeah don't they just wear suits?" Kaouru added.

"Sometimes they wear bulletproof vests!" Honey suggested.

"They also seem to like the idea of the Roaring Twenties."

"What's that?" the twins asked.

"The Roaring Twenties were a time period in American history where the population's wealth and morale were at an all time high. A prohibition of liquor backfired and made it cheaper than ever, and excessive wealth, spending, and parties abounded." Kyoya explained without looking up from his notes."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" Tamaki cried.

"Sounds like it would make for a very interesting time…" the twins said mischievously.

"Of course, all alcohol will be left out of the picture." Kyoya said, glancing up at the twins.

"Aww, Senpai, you're no fun!" they whined.

"There were a few who really like swimmers, too."

"Who doesn't love a swimmer?" came a voice from behind them. They turned around to see a girl at the door, tall, with long, straight blonde hair, very pretty, athletic build.

Tamaki, of course, immediately rushed to her side with a bright red rose. "Why hello, my dear. What a beautiful young bloom you are…" he dramatically covered his face with his hand. "How lucky we are that you have found our Host Club!"

The girl gave him a strange look. "Yeah, okay."

Kyoya stood up and cleared his throat. "That's enough, Tamaki. She's not interested in our club."

Tamaki was offended, obviously. "Kyoya! How could you say that?!"

He rolled his eyes. "Calm down you idiot, she's here for her sister." he turned to address the girl. "Hello, Emma, nice to see you again."

She gave him a nod and a peace sign, at which he rolled his eyes. Since his first date with Ella, he and Emma had had a rather…interesting relationship.

Honey skipped over to her. "So you're Ellie-chan's little sister?" he looked her up and down and giggled. "You're taller than her."

Emma snickered back. "Yeah, I know."

"Hmmph." Ella crossed her arms, and Kyoya chuckled.

Naturally, the twins could not stay silent for long. "So…" they strolled over and put their arms around her.

"You're a first-year, huh?" Kaouru said.

"We've been looking for a new toy…" Hikaru continued.

Emma scoffed. "And what makes you think I'll consent to being your toy?"

"Oh, there's no consent involved, Emma." Haruhi added. "Trust me." Haruhi and Emma had already met: She'd been to their house a few times.

"Well, maybe I'm just more than they can handle." Emma said, smirking.

Hikaru scoffed. "NOBODY is too much for us to handle."

"You mean, nobody HAS been. Yet."

"Ohhh, you'd better be careful." Kaouru said.

"Comments like that will earn you punishment." Hikaru whispered in her ear.

This continued on, back and forth, while on the opposite side of the room Kyoya addressed Ella.

"You're just going to let them play with her like that?"

Ella laughed. "Emma can handle herself." she said. "Besides, she seems to be enjoying herself. I thought she might hit it off with those two."

Kyoya nodded in agreement. From what he'd seen of Emma, that definitely seemed to be true… "Aren't you worried they might hit it off TOO well?"

Ella frowned. "I hadn't…until now…"

Kyoya chuckled. "Well, at the very least it should be interesting…"

Emma walked up, arm in arm with the twins, grinning. "I think I'm going to be spending a lot of my time here with you guys."

"She's better than a new toy." The twins said.

"Oh no…" Ella said.

"What, Ella?" Emma said sweetly. "Mom did say you should look after me…"

"Yeah, but who's going to look after me…"

**Thanks for reading guys! And oooh, one more thing. I just got a tumblr, and it'd really mean a lot if some of you guys wanted to follow me;) I'm probably going to plug some clips of original stories on there, so if you like my writing there's that, not to mention reblog a bunch of Ouran stuff, and who couldn't use more of the gang on their feed, huh? My username is inkprincesse, the blog is Musings of a Modern Princess. I love you all! (Sorry for the plug! If it annoys you just ignore it!)**

**~FeatherSong**


	20. The Phantom of the Host Club

**OH MY GOD GUYS. This chapter. I'm so proud of it. It's SOOOOO long! It's like a full-length episode! I don't have time to edit as I have a final tomorrow morning and my parents are urging me to bed. (Junior year...just a few hours from being over!) HERE YOU GO. HOPE YOU LIKE IT.**

**(Sorry, just got back and edited: in case it was unclear, they're texting here. I've italicized it for you now.) I've also added a small scene with Emma towards the end. Not much just thought it was necessary after reading through again.**

**(THIRD EDIT: Thank you to RedBron for catching my slip-up. *curses self for making their names so similar*)**

_"All I'm asking is that we spend a little more time together, Kyoya."_

_"What do you mean, 'more time,' when we're at that damned host club practically every day?"_

_"No. That's not what I mean. I mean alone. It's not the same if everybody else is there. We haven't been on a date in weeks!"_

_"Ella darling, I'm sorry, but I'm being swamped with schoolwork right now. I have to study constantly if I want to stay at the top of the class. Which I must."_

Ella turned over and growled into her pillow. It was nearly midnight on a Sunday night, and she should be asleep, but she'd been having the same argument with Kyoya for the past two hours. He just didn't get it!

_"-_- Kyoya, you're ALWAYS swamped with schoolwork. And if that's the case, what's the point of us dating at all?!"_

_"Ella. Please don't think like that. You know I love you."_

_"You have a funny way of showing it."_

Kyoya felt like banging his head against a wall. Didn't she get it?!

"_Ella, PLEASE, TRY to understand the pressure on me. That idiot Tamaki and his club already take up too much of my free time."_

_"Oh, so going on a date with me once in a while is an inconvenience to you, you'd rather spend your time with your books and your work than with your living breathing girlfriend?! Fine, I get it!"_

_"That's not what I said."_

_"It's what you meant."_

_"Darling, please, you're being ridiculous."_

_"ME WANTING TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOU IS RIDICULOUS. REALLY. OKAY. I'LL FILE THAT AWAY FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. Seriously, how much freaking difference can a couple of hours make?!"_

_"Isn't enough that we have club time to be together?"_

_"That's funny, I thought the Host Club was stupid! You've just made it obvious that you'd rather not be there at all, so the message I'm getting here is that you'd rather be rid of me altogether!"_

_"Ella! No! I don't want anything of the sort!"_

_"Maybe you should just go to bed. Can't having you wasting your precious sleep time to talk to little old me. It's much more important that you get your full eight hours for school! I'm just an insignificant speck in comparison! Goodnight, Kyoya!"_

_"Ella…"_ he started to type another message, but he never sent it. He felt he had already lost, somehow…he didn't want to make the situation worse.

It was a strange feeling, this one. He felt mad enough to punch something, and he wanted to grab her and shake her and make her understand, and at the same time he felt almost sick, wanting to hug her and kiss her and tell her everything was okay, that he wished he could spend all of his time alone with her, because he loved her.

All of this confusion was giving him a headache…he decided it would be better just to go to sleep and bother with it in the morning. He'd need his energy tomorrow…it was that damn activities fair again…

_The next morning, in the Club Room…_

"Ellie-chan!" Honey ran right up to her. "Good morning! Would you like some pancakes and chocolate milk?" He held up a tray with a plate full of chocolate chip pancakes, a glass of chocolate milk, and a small vase with a flower sticking out of it. "I made it special just for you!"

"Aww, thank you Honey!" she said as he struggled to put the tray down. Mori took it and put it on the table as Honey pulled out her chair for her. "You're being awfully sweet this morning!"

Honey smiled wide. "I just thought you'd need a little extra sweet-y-ness, since Kyo-chan seems so sleepy." he gestured over to where Kyoya, unnoticed until now, seemed to have fallen asleep at his desk.

Her expression darkened. "Oh. The poor thing." she said sarcastically, with a rather dark tone to her voice.

Honey and Mori looked at each other in surprise, then slowly backed away.

"Right…well…" Honey giggled nervously. "You just have a nice breakfast!" They sped off.

Tamaki was lounging on the window seat, looking out the window, with his arm around Haruhi as she read a book.

"Tama-chan, Haru-chan!" They both looked up at Honey's whisper. "I think something's wrong with Ellie-chan…she's acting not happy. I've never seen her not happy!"

Haruhi looked over at her friend to see her eating pancakes with a somewhat blank, though not conclusively unhappy, expression. "I don't see what you're talking about, Honey-senpai, she looks fine to me."

Honey shook his head vehemently. "No, no, no! She seemed normal, but then I mentioned Kyo-chan, and her face got all scary!"

Her eyebrows rose. "Really?" she looked up. "Tamaki, do you think they could be having problems?"

He looked over at Kyoya. "Well, I suppose it is possible…he definitely didn't seem in the best of moods today, and it looks like he didn't get much sleep."

"Maybe we should go talk to them…"

Mori put his hand on Haruhi's shoulder. "Bad idea." he said, looking over at Ella.

"Takashi's right, Haru-chan." Honey said. "I think we'd better leave Ellie-chan alone."

"Okay, but I'm still going to go talk to Kyoya." Tamaki said.

"Good luck." they said.

Kyoya hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep until he heard Tamaki's voice.

"Kyoya, did you and Ella have a fight or something?"

Kyoya groaned, lifting his head from the desk and rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "Or something." he agreed.

Tamaki, concerned, sat down in the chair across from him. "Why?"

Kyoya sighed. "Tamaki, you really shouldn't go meddling in other couples' disputes."

"But I-"

Tamaki's protest was interrupted by the sound of the doors banging open.

"That's odd..." Kyoya said, looking at his watch. "We're not supposed to open for the fair for another hour or so..."

This unusual occurrence was explained at once by a low and drawn out note: "Lobeliaaaaaaaaaa..."

Followed by a mezzo: "Lobeliaaaaaaaaa!"

And topped off with a high soprano: "LobeliAAAAAAAAA!"

"Oh dear god." Kyoya said, burying his face in his hands. "Why today..."

Tamaki gasped. "THEY'VE COME BACK FOR HARUHI!" he cried. "MEN, ASSUME YOUR POSITIONS!"

"SIR, YES SIR!" the twins and Honey replied, all of the boys forming a large protective ring around Haruhi.

"What the hell is this." she asked monotonously, definitely annoyed.

"Yes, that is correct!" the low and regal voice of Lady Benibara sounded loud and clear across the club room. "You've been keeping this maiden prisoner here for over a year, disguised as a lowly pig, a man! It's time she returned to her own kind!"

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!" Tamaki cried.

"YOU ARE NOT HER MASTER!" Benibara yelled back.

Haruhi raised her hand, only barely visible above the heads of her 'protectors.' "Actually, Lady Benibara, I'm not really their prisoner anymore. I like it here."

"See?!" Tamaki yelled smugly.

"Oh, you poor sweet girl!" Benibara cried in dramatic anguish. "You've been deluded just like all of these sick boys' guests! Not to worry, we will save you!"

Kyoya had had just about enough of this ridiculousness. "That is QUITE ENOUGH!" he yelled. The room fell silent. "You ladies are no longer welcome in our club room, and I'm going to have to ask that you leave, IMMEDIATELY. Have I made myself quite clear?!"

Benibara's eyes narrowed. "Crystal." she said menacingly. "I'm sorry we have to do this to you, you always seemed to be the swine with the most sense: I almost had a small amount of respect for you. But now I'm afraid we're going to have to swear vengeance on you as well!"

"Vengeance for what?" Hikaru asked increduously.

"Yeah, all he did was ban you, and you don't even like our club, so why does it bother you?" Kaouru asked.

"SILENCE!" she yelled dramatically.

Ella chose that moment to stroll in from the bathroom. "Guys, what's all the yelling about in here? I can hear you, like, all the way down the hall. And these are long halls."

Benibara's eyes widened, her face seeming to turn to stone. Angry stone. "What is this?! Are you creatures hiding away another beautiful flower from the rest of the world?!"

"Uh, what?" Ella was clearly confused.

"Nuh-uh!" Honey said indignantly. "Ellie-chan is Kyo-chan's girlfriend!"

A very evil smile spread across Benibara's face. "Oh IS she now?"

The club glared at Honey, who laughed nervously, realizing his mistake. "Oopsies..."

Benibara turned dramatically to Ella, getting down on one knee and taking her hand. "Poor maiden, it is clear that you have been mistreated here!"

"I'll say." she mumbled.

"These men, these pigs, can't possibly appreciate and understand you as well as others of your kind-your superior kind-can! Please, darling, come away with us! The Zukka Club needs a leading female for its next musical, and you seem just the girl to do it!"

Ella's eyes widened, and she smiled. "Did you say musical?"

Benibara grinned, seeing that she'd won. "Come, maiden! We must get you ready!"

After the dust settled, all was silent for a moment. Then Honey started crying.

"Noooooooooo! They can't take Ellie-chan away!" he turned to Kyoya, uncharacteristically angry, but with tears still in his eyes. "This is all your fault, Kyo-chan!" his anger faded quickly, he now just looked like a sad puppy. "Why'd you hafta fight with her, huh? Now she's gonna leave us..."

Mori picked Honey up and carried him away, patting his back. "Shh, Mitskuni. Kyoya will fix it." he turned to give Kyoya a glare, as if to say, "You'd damn well better fix this." Kyoya gulped.

He sighed heavily, then went over and sat at his desk and put his head in his hands.

Tamaki appeared again. "Kyoya."

"WHAT, Tamaki. Do you want to rub it in? I screwed up. Yes."

"No, Kyoya." Tamaki said, in that soft, serious voice that told you he meant business. "Yes, you screwed up, and now you have to fix it. Do you love her?"

Kyoya sighed. "Yes."

"Do you want to get her back?"

"Of course I do."

"Then you're going to have to listen to me. Can you do that?"

He grimaced a bit, but nodded.

"Okay. Now, what did you two fight about?"

He sighed and rubbed his temples. "She wants to spend more time with me, whatever that means. I mean, we're together here every day, and I have all of this schoolwork, how much more can she possibly expect from me?" he eyed Tamaki curiously. "How often do you and Haruhi see each other outside of school?"

"Not as often as I'd like." Tamaki sighed, looking over at her. She was sitting next to Mori, taking a shot at consoling the sniffling Honey. "She does study a lot. But I make sure I get at least three or four dates in a month." he smiled. "Sometimes she argues, but afterwards she always agrees that she's glad she came. That break from studying and chores does her good." he looked at Kyoya pointedly. "And it keeps me from missing her too much."

Kyoya frowned. He saw the point. "Damn it." he felt extremely guilty. A few hours of his time, for someone he cared about as much as her? It really wasn't that much at all…and then there she was, missing him…. "I'm an idiot." he buried his face in his hands again.

Tamaki waited patiently for him to finish. He was just glad he'd been able to get through to him so quickly: Kyoya could be stubborn.

Finally, he looked up. "So now what do I do?"

Tamaki grinned. "Now," he said. "We rally the troops." He turned around. "Host Club! Assemble!"

_A few hours later…_

Emma was walking down the hall after lunch, laughing and chatting with a couple of her friends from the swim team. They _had_ been on their way to check out the water polo team from a school in Kyoto, when…

Suddenly Emma found herself with her arms pinned tightly to the chests of twin redheads.

"Target…"

"Captured." they said with identically evil grins, before dragging her away in a puff of smoke.

Meanwhile, her friends were standing there with their mouths open.

"Was that…?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow."

"Lucky."

_Back at the Host Club…_

Emma was laughing as Hikaru dropped her on a chair in the club room. (She had struggled so much that he had had to throw her over his shoulder.)

"What the hell, guys?" she asked. "I wanted to see the water polo team!"

Kaouru scoffed. "What's so great about water polo?"

Emma laughed. "Um, have you SEEN those guys?"

Hikaru's eyes narrowed, and he smirked. "Are you saying we're not good enough for you, Emma?"

"Yeah, Emma," Kaouru continued. "We're a host club. We're the best the school has to offer."

"What more could you ask for?"

Emma raised an eyebrow. "A little cocky, are we boys?"

They put their arms around each other. "We have every reason to be."

She was about to make yet another retort, but Tamaki interrupted. "Hikaru! Kaouru! That's enough. You can banter with Emma later, right now we have more pressing matters at hand."

"Oh, right." Hikaru said.

"Sorry, boss." Kaouru replied.

"Oooh, am I being recruited for a mission?" Emma asked with a grin.

"Precisely, dear Emma." Tamaki said. "You see, your older sister has been recruited by the Lobelia Girls' Academy to play the lead in their newest show. Now, we know from past experience…" (he looked around pointedly.) "…That that's code for 'we're going to steal her away from you, ha-ha, stupid male things.'"

"Oooookay?" Emma said, quirking an eyebrow. "Yeah, she was saying something about that at lunch, she was really excited. It's one of her favorites. She hasn't had the chance to do a musical in a really long time, she loves them. And this was one of her dream roles." she looked around curiously.

"Drat."

"Drat?"

"Drat." Tamaki repeated. "You see, Emma, Ella and Kyoya had a fight last night, and he wants to win her back."

"Nooo," a very pouty Honey interrupted. "_We_ HAVE to get her back!"

"Yes." he looked over at Kyoya, still sitting dejectedly in a corner, half-listening. "We sure do. But it's going to be difficult to do, now that we know how much she must be enjoying herself."

"Ohh, that explains why she was up so late. And growling into her pillow."

Kyoya let slip a small smile. Even when she was mad at him, she still managed to be cute.

"Now, Emma, you are Ella's sister." Tamaki continued. "Out of all of us, you probably know her best. We need your help in arranging…a heist, of sorts."

"Your background knowledge in technical theatre crew will also apparently be of great help." Kyoya piped up.

Emma smiled, a mischievous grin. "A heist, huh? I'm in."

"That's our girl." the twins said, high fiving.

"So what are we doing?" she asked.

Now it was Tamaki's turn to grin. "That," he said. "Is what we are here for. Group huddle!"

_The next day, after lunch…_

The plan was in place. The Host Club had secretly assembled in all different areas towards this climactic scene in the show (one way or another replacing the stage crew members who were already there): Haruhi was back in the lighting booth, Honey and Mori were on curtains, and Hikaru and Kaouru were waiting at the quickchange station. Emma had shown them all how to work these things properly and was talking to all of them over a headset from the catwalk above the stage. Meanwhile, Kyoya was hiding in a curtain nearby while Tamaki fussed with his microphone and outfit.

Kyoya was sweating bullets. "Tamaki, do I have to do this?"

"Absolutely. If you want to win her back, this is how. Think about it. The Lobelia Girls' Academy can offer your girlfriend a million things Ouran can't, starting with their incredible drama program! If you want to keep her here without a doubt, THIS is what you have to do!"

Kyoya gulped. He had never been so nervous in his entire life. Never, ever, ever.

Onstage, Ella was singing with Lady Benibara, who was dressed as a masked man, who was disguising himself as another man, who was supposed to be playing a different masked man. All confusion aside, the song was very sexual, and Kyoya didn't like it. From his spot hidden in the curtains, he was barely able to make out Ella's figure. She looked beautiful in her costume: A long, period-style dress with the shoulder straps slightly off, her hair curled up on top of her head. Her beauty at that moment only added to his discomfort at the song she was singing with that…woman.

Meanwhile, the Host Club had now completely taken over the show. All other actors and crew members had been subdued (without violence, of course), and Kyoya was waiting, in agony, for his cue.

Ella was singing alone now. As she began, Benibara ran offstage. She was supposed to enter from near where Kyoya was standing…of course, she never made it. Kyoya could hear her muffled cries of protest.

Emma gave him the signal that it was almost time.

"…_When will the blood begin to race?_

_The sleeping bud burst into bloom?_

_When will the flames at last consume us?"_

That was it. Ella's last line was his cue to enter, and to sing along with her. He felt as though he might actually die. The key shifted, and…

"_Past the point of no return,_

_The final threshold:_

_The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn…"_

They were slowly moving closer to each other, he could see Ella's expression beginning to become confused.

"…_We've past the point…of no return…"_

The two met in the middle of the stage, and the music shifted to a more sad and romantic tone. Ella's eyes widened a bit in sheer disbelief.

Kyoya was going to kill Tamaki. He felt faint. He felt sick. He did NOT sing…

"_Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime…_

_Lead me, save me from my solitude…"_ he sang. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"_Say you want me with you here, beside you…"_ he was pleading with his eyes, trying to tell her he was sorry without actually saying the words, and hoping to god that she'd forgive him. (If she didn't, he WOULD kill Tamaki.)

"_Anywhere you go, let me go too! Darling, that's all I ask of…"_

At that moment, as she was normally supposed to, Ella pulled off his mask. The music played the normal sounds of horror for the show, but this audience's horror had nothing to do with the show itself: A boy! On Lady Benibara's stage!

Ella added to the horror by grinning and kissing Kyoya passionately on the lips.

And with that, the curtains closed.

The twins high-fived. Honey did a kind of jump-and-fist-pump-into-the-air type thing, and Mori smiled. Tamaki was grinning, and there might have been a tear rolling down his face. Up in the lighting booth, Haruhi plopped down on the chair in relief.

"Good job, team." Emma said over the headset.

"Do we get a reward?" the twins asked mischeviously.

Emma smirked. "Maybe, maybe not."

Kyoya (finally) broke the kiss and looked at Ella. Her eyes were gleaming. "Kyoya…I didn't…how long have you…did you guys really…?"

He chuckled softly at her loss for words (feeling a bit proud of himself). "Perhaps the questions should be saved for later, my dear. We do have to untie the actors and stage crew, and something tells me that Benibara is going to raise hell. We might want to be out of here before that starts.

Ella laughed. "Agreed." she began walking away, but Kyoya grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Wait." he said. She cocked her head to the side. "Before we do anything else, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry." he said, his eyes wide and pleading, looking a little agonized. "I understand why you were angry now, and you're right, we should spend more time together, an hour or two extra is NEVER too much to ask, and if I could I would spend every moment of time I had with you. I love you, Ella. I love you…more than anything else in this whole damn world. Please forgive me for…well, for being an ass."

Ella was almost tearing up. She buried her face in his chest. "You have no idea how much that means to me…" she looked up. "I love you too, Kyoya." she kissed him. "And of course I forgive you."

He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god." he said, and laughed. "If you didn't, I would kill Tamaki for making me do this"

She laughed too. "Trust me, honey, even if I HAD still been mad, I would have had a hard time resisting that." she looked up at him, biting her lip and grinning as if she wasn't sure if she should say the next part. "Not only is this one of my favorite musicals…and SOOOO romantic…you look kinda hot as the Phantom."

Kyoya's eyebrows rose. "Oh?" he wasn't sure how to respond. He was flattered, but this was new territory for him. Or maybe he was reading too far into it. The way she was dressed wasn't exactly helping his nerves…her dress was literally made to be sensual… "Uh, thank you, Ella, you also look…I mean, that is…erm…." he cleared his throat.

She giggled and kissed his nose, pretty much diffusing all the tension. "You're cute when you get nervous. Like a puppy the first time you give it a squeaky toy."

He laughed, albeit still a bit uncomfortably, at her comparison. "Well, um, thank you, I think."

Offstage, they heard the sound of a loud, angry scream, quickly followed by a blur that looked like the twins.

"Time to go!" they said, each grabbing one by the arm and pulling them away.

_Back at the Host Club…_

Everything was back to normal. The Host Club (plus Emma) was seated around the large coffee table, Emma squished between the twins, Ella seated on Kyoya's lap.

"You guys," Ella said. "That was incredible. All of you." she turned to Kyoya. "Especially you!" she kissed him, for the millionth time that day. "I didn't know you could sing! Or act! You were so good!"

"Yes, who would've thought!" Tamaki cried. "Our little Kyoya, a star!" he said dramatically, little stars appearing where his eyes should be.

"He's never going to stop harping on this, is he?" Kyoya said with a sigh, still smiling.

"What about your little sis here, huh?" Hikaru said.

"Yeah, she was the most important piece of the puzzle!" Kaouru agreed, mussing her hair. Emma just rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I am very very proud of Emma." Ella said with a smile. "Thanks."

"Actually, Emma did so well that I think we should have her on as our permanent technical director..." Tamaki said. "Just think about all of the wonderful things we could do!"

Ella smiled. "It is true, a techie would open a bunch of new doors for the club."

Kyoya laughed. "I wouldn't have to pay for them when we need them anymore." he said happily.

"So, what do you say, Emma?" Tamaki asked, turning to her.

She grinned. "Well, I have swim team, so I couldn't be here all the time...but that sounds great."

The twins grinned at each other and high fived over her head. "Awwww yeah!" they said. Emma laughed as they put their arms around her.

At that moment, the door burst open, and a half costumed, enraged version of Benibara stormed in.

Well, things were ALMOST back to normal...

"YOU!" she bellowed, pointing at Kyoya, who had unconsciously wrapped his arms very tightly around Ella. "YOU SELFISH, EVIL, DISGUSTING CREATURE!" she stormed over to him, yelling in all of their faces. "Not only did you things DESTROY my show, YOU HAVE KIDNAPPED THIS POOR MAIDEN, AND YOU ARE HOLDING HER HERE AGAINST HER WILL! Come, maiden, away with us, where these awful, repulsive things can't bother you anymore!"

Ella's eyes narrowed, and her lips became a thin line. "Excuse me, Kyoya." she said. He loosened his grip, and she stood. She was a good deal shorter than Benibara, but she got right up in her face. "Now look, lady." she said. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I am NOT a fan of your elitist attitude. You know, if you wanna be a lesbian, I'm totally cool with that, good for you. But men, while sometimes dunces, are NOT "hideous, evil, disgusting creatures," and not ALL girls are going to like other girls, so GET. OVER. IT."

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then the Host Club broke into applause.

"Yeah, you tell her, Ellie-chan!"

"Thank god somebody finally said it." the twins agreed.

After recovering from the initial shock, it seemed Benibara's brain had to reboot. Finally, she sputtered, and spoke again. "I…uh…well…uh…" she blinked, then left, still mumbling to herself.

Emma giggled. "I think you broke her."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Good." she said. "She was really annoying."

Kyoya looked at her. "So you were never considering leaving?"

Ella laughed. "Kyoya, please! Me, at an all girls' school? I think I'd die. Besides," she said, turning back to him with a smile. "I could never leave you. Even if we fight, I still love you." she gave him a kiss, and he kissed her back, smiling.

"And NOW everything is back to normal." Tamaki said, turning and facing the reader.

Emma's eyes widened. "You guys can break the fourth wall?!"

**Alrighty guys. There it is. So what do you think?! Kyoya as Phantom! I know Kyoya singing is a little out there, but I believe in him^^ (Okay okay it's a bit of a fantasy.) I just thought the lyrics fit him too perfectly not to use at some point. And now Emma is one of them! Woo-hoo! Watch out for her and the twins getting into trouble in the future...or making it! ;D**

**Sorry for the late edits, I was a little too excited to get it up last night. Thanks for reading!**

**~FeatherSong**


	21. Kyoya's Theory

**OMG HI EVERYONE!**

**First of all...**

***THROWS CONFETTI AND GLITTER FREAKIN EVERYWHERE***

**THIS STORY HAS PASSED A HUNDRED FOLLOWERS!**

**Guys. Guys. Guys. I don't even think you can understand how FREAKING PSYCHED I AM ABOUT THIS. I FLIPPED OUT. It means so much that you all read the story and like it and like...care about it enough to want to be notified for the next chapter. I know I say it all the time but I LOVE YOU GUYS TO DEATH AND I REALLY MEAN THAT!**

** It feels like it's been FOREVER! So sorry. There's been a LOT of drama this month, and I have scholarships to apply for and application essays to write and this original story that really needs work. Good news, I'm going on vacation next week, and naturally I'm bringing my laptop, so there WILL BE UPDATES. **

**I've been thinking some stuff over for a while, and so this chapter is more or less a plug for something that I'm going to announce at the end. So stay tuned for BIG NEWS! (Sorta. Kinda. For me, anyway. Oh, just go ahead and read, ya sillies.)**

Ella groaned and rolled over in her bed. It was a Saturday morning, she had had a late concert last night, she wanted to sleep in. Why the hell were the lights on, and why was Taylor Swift blaring through the room?!

"Emmaaaaa…" she whined into her pillow. "Turn it oooofffffff…"

"No, El, you should be up already." she snipped.

Ella was getting pissed. "I was out. Until two in the freaking morning. Turn. It. Off."

Another, unexpected voice sounded from behind her. "I think she was referring to the fact that you have a date…but I could come back later." Ella sat up quickly at the sound of her boyfriend's voice.

"Kyoya! How long have you been here?!"

"In your doorway? Only a couple of seconds."

"He's been in the living room for about half an hour though." Ricky said, strolling by the open doorway with his nose in a video game.

"Oh my gosh Kyoya, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot, just give me a few minutes…"

He chuckled at her early morning (or, technically, early afternoon) disorientation. "It's alright, Ella. I don't mind." he kissed her on the forehead before leaving the room. He was still smiling as he strolled back into the living room, but was surprised to find that his seat was taken. "What are you two doing here?"

"We might ask you the same question." the twins teased.

"I'm here to pick up my girlfriend?" he said, raising a eyebrow.

"We're here for Emma." Kaouru explained.

"We're hanging out with her today." Hikaru added.

"Just the three of you?"

"Yeah, why?" they said.

"Nothing, just feel that the world should be concerned…" he mumbled

The twins snickered in response, before standing to leave with Emma. "Later, Kyoya." she said, flicking his ear as she walked by.

"Byeee!" the twins called as they strolled out the door with her.

Ella walked up behind him and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay, ready."

"Are you aware that your sister is going out alone with the Hitachiin twins?" he asked.

"Uhh, yeah, is that a problem?"

"No, no, it's just very interesting…they don't normally do that."

"Huh. Really?"

"Yes." he pushed his glasses up his nose. "If they go out at all it's either with each other or with the club. They never single out one person like that."

"Really, never?"

"Well, there was that one debacle where Hikaru went on a date with Haruhi…but that didn't end very well anyway."

"I KNEW HE LIKED HER!" she yelled excitedly.

Kyoya held his ears. "No need to raise the dead, dear."

"But he totally does doesn't he?!"

"Well," Kyoya began. "He did. Once. Actually, at the beginning, I believe we were all mildly interested in her."

"What." Ella looked at him in shock.

Kyoya didn't notice her expression flattening. He was too deep in thought. "Yes, as soon as each of us realized she was a girl there was a certain amount of intrigue. I thought she was pretty, and I admired her gall, but that was about the extent of my interest in her: I decided it would be much more interesting and much less tiring to watch the battle than to become part of it."

Ella scoffed. "Decided? You can just control your emotions like that?" she looked at him cynically.

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, why?"

"Well, if you can, then why bother with me?" she gave him a smirk.

He narrowed his eyes. She had him. "You were quite a different experience, I suppose."

She grinned. "Oh really? How so?"

He pulled her closer. "Well, there was something about you I suppose just couldn't be resisted…"

She giggled and stood tiptoe to kiss him. Of course, Ricky chose that moment to walk by.

"C'mon guys, can't you wait until you leave the apartment to start the date?"

Ella pulled away quickly, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, Ricky!"

"Yes, apologies, we'll be going now." Kyoya chuckled, leading Ella out the door. "Good day, Ricky."

Ricky waved goodbye.

"So," Ella said as they started down the stairs. "You used your manly manly willpower." she gave him a sidelong smirk of sarcasm. "How did the rest of the club manage to resist Haruhi?"

"Well…" he thought for a moment. "I don't think Honey was ever really romantically interested in her, per se. It was more like he was fighting for her attention. Eventually he started treating her like an older sister."

Ella laughed. "Yes, I noticed." they had reached the bottom of the stairs. Kyoya held the front door open for her. "What about Mori? I can't see him liking her that way."

"Actually, Mori seemed to be serving some basic need to protect her. I think once she started to show that she didn't need as much protection as he thought, his feelings started to change. She's become sort of like his little sister by now."

"So when Tamaki calls the club a family, he is kind of right."

Kyoya laughed. "Yes. In a way."

"And Kaouru?"

Kyoya suddenly looked puzzled. "He showed the same amount of interest in her as Hikaru ever did…especially after she was able to tell them apart. She was the first one who was ever able to, you see, so I think they felt some sort of…attachment to her." They had reached the front door of their favorite little coffee shop. He held this one open for her as well. "But somewhere along the lines he just sort of fell to the wayside…they're just friends. Good friends, but friends. She, more or less, just made him realize that eventually one of them was going to fall for someone. Or things would change in some other way." He turned to the barista and ordered their coffee. "Cream and sugar for me, a caramel latte for her, thank you."

"Wow. That has to be rough." Ella said, frowning.

He turned back to her. "Well, yes, I suppose, but it's a reality they will eventually have to face. Although it would seem that Hikaru has found the willpower to get himself over her fairly recently."

Ella laughed. "Also good, because I don't think Tamaki is letting her go anytime soon."

Kyoya laughed as he picked up their drinks. "Hell no."

"Oh! Speaking of!" Ella said, looking over Kyoya's shoulder. "Hey guys!" she waved.

Kyoya turned, and sure enough, Tamaki and Haruhi were walking in hand in hand.

"Oh, hey Ella, hi Kyoya-senpai." Haruhi said happily. "I didn't expect to run into you guys here."

"Oh yeah, we love this place." Ella replied.

"Yes, such a quaint little shop, lovely atmosphere! How splendid, a place where commoners can come and buy gourmet beverages, yet still enjoy the comfort and wifi connectivity of home!" Tamaki cried with glee.

"Tamaki, people are staring again…" Haruhi muttered.

"This is wonderful, first we run into Hikaru Kaouru and Emma, and now you two!" Tamaki said, ignoring her.

"Oh, you saw them? What were they up to?" Ella asked.

Haruhi chuckled. "Terrorizing the city, most likely." Ella and Kyoya laughed too. "No, but they really did seem to be having a good time. I know I haven't seen Hikaru laugh that hard in a while."

"Interesting…" Kyoya said. Ella gave him a confused look. "Nothing dear," he said to her. "Just a little theory I have."

"Care to share?" she asked him.

"No, no, it's not much of anything anyway. Time will tell."

Ella narrowed her eyes, but decided to let it go. For now. "Well, do you guys wanna sit with us?"

"Sure, sounds great." Haruhi said.

"Oh, lovely! An impromptu double date, how serendipidous!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Tamaki. You're drawing attention. Just come sit."

Kyoya looked around him as they all sat down. Tamaki and Haruhi holding hands, the beautiful girl sitting next to him…yes, a lot had changed since last year…

And if his theory panned out, a lot more was still going to.

**Alrighty guys, here it is...this chapter was kind of a plug in for a spin off I wanted to do. I know I said any related one shots I did would be attached to this story, but I never expected things to develop this much. It seems like there's another story developing here, and it deserves its own place. So, here's what I'm gonna do:**

**I'm making a new story for Emma and the twins. Never fear, I'll still be posting one shots on this one, but only after that one's done...it's their turn for now, I think. I know it's going to be a lot of places to look, but I think you guys will really enjoy this one. And hey, if you don't feel like reading it, no biggie, it'll just be a longer wait for the next chapter, and you'll probably only be mildly confused as to what happened. Anyway, just watch for the next update on this story for me to tell you what the name of the new one is...or, you know, look at my account or something. You can let me know what you think in reviews and junk. Anything for me to try to make it easier. Thanks so much for keeping up guys! This is about to get crazy but trust me it will be worth it!**

**~FeatherSong**


	22. Update from FeatherSong! :O

**Heya guys! FeatherSong here! This is my update to tell you that the twins' story with Emma is up! It's called The Pumpkin, check it out! Read, follow, review, et cetera! Do what you guys do!**

**Also, I went and fixed the Puertura Charm chapter, because due to the development of my next generation story, some details desperately needed changing. So if you want to check that out too, please do!**

**Love you guys! Thanks again for keeping up with the crazyness!**

**-FeatherSong**


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